Chapter 24 Big Rhododendron

  Zhao Meng once heard an idiom called dove occupying magpie's nest.

  Dove generally refers to a pigeon-like bird like a turtledove.

   This kind of bird will drive away some birds smaller than them, and occupy the property of those small birds for reproduction.

   Judging from human moral standards,

  The behavior of this bird can be regarded as a very excessive behavior,

  But in the animal world, there is a bird whose behavior is worse than the turtledove, that is the cuckoo,

  This bird does not nurse its own chicks,

   Instead, lay the eggs in the nests of other birds and let other birds hatch them for them.

  This phenomenon is called "parasitism" in biology

  【In the first month, due to the size of the nest, the nest can no longer accommodate you, so you can only stand on the branch to receive feeding from the female bird. 】

  At this time, Zhao Meng was standing on the branch next to the bird's nest,

  And a sparrow landed with a few locusts in its beak,

  Zhao Meng instinctively opened his mouth,

  The sparrow tilted its head, looking at the big mouth that could swallow itself,

   There seems to be some doubts in the little black bean-like eyes,

   But in the end, the locusts were put into the huge mouth and then flew away from the nest, continuing to search for food for their "own" children.

   "I have to leave the nest quickly, or this sparrow will die of exhaustion!"

   "The cuckoo is such an uncomfortable bird!"

  【In the second month, your wings are getting fuller, the female bird can no longer feed you, and you start to forage alone! 】

  Because there is no female bird to teach cuckoo chicks hunting skills,

  So the only things that cuckoos can hunt are some hard-to-eat bugs in nature. Dangerous prey such as pine caterpillars and gypsy moths.

   "It feels like eating spicy sticks!"

  Zhao Meng already has sufficient experience in being a human being, so he quickly adapted to the cuckoo's feeding habits.

   "From a human point of view, this cuckoo is a very beneficial bird!"

   Zhao Meng looked at the pine caterpillars all over the tree, and secretly sighed in his heart.

  【The third month, eating and growing】

   Zhao Meng's body is still growing, and he feels that the breeding season of this bird is coming soon.

   "Cuckoo's lifespan is not long, be careful this time and you should be able to pass the simulation once!"

  Looking at the reflection in the water below, Zhao Meng secretly thought about something.

  【Fourth month, eating, growing, avoiding predators】

   As a small and medium-sized bird, Rhododendron faces many predators.

  If it is the first time as a bird, he may be accidentally killed in the face of those elusive predators.

  But he has already imitated the Tassel Sandpiper, and has escaped the pursuit of the Kestrel many times,

  Facing the predation of these birds of prey, he has sufficient experience in dealing with them,

   "The only thing to watch out for are the predators on the ground!"

  In this cautious state of life,

   Zhao Meng finally arrived at the breeding season that he likes to hear and see.

  【Fifth month, you mature, start to follow the sound to find the female bird! 】

   "Cuckoo! Cuckoo!"

   "Zigui! Zigui!"

  The rhododendrons in the breeding season began to sing in the mountains and forests,

   And their calls have evolved into two other aliases, namely cuckoo and cuckoo.

   But this is just a name that human beings have imagined through their own cognition.

   And these voices reached Zhao Meng's ears, which had another meaning.

   "Come on! It's time to lay eggs!"

  It's like an old hen clucking non-stop after laying eggs.

  Before preparing to breed new eggs, birds will also look for and call male birds to give new life to their eggs.

   And heard the call of the female bird,

  Zhao Meng also responded a few times, which may be interpreted as:

   "Don't worry, I'll come!"

  …

   However, the call of the female bird is not only heard by the male bird,

   When he arrived at the source of the sound, several male birds had already gathered here.

   "Looks like we're going to go through a battle again!"

  Each male bird shows its own posture,

  It's like a man in the gym seeing a beautiful woman showing off her muscles.

   Zhao Meng is just an adult male bird,

  It is not as good as these old birds that have grown for one year or two years,

  But with human wisdom and a lot of inappropriate experience, he began to provoke the male birds around the female bird and fight with each other.

   Taking advantage of the chaos,

  He quietly approached the female bird.

  …

  The cuckoo gave life to the eggs for a long time, which lasted for two minutes.

   It is not that Zhao Meng wants to delay time for some purpose,

   It is because this kind of parasitic bird has some differences in physiological structure from other birds.

  After the incident, Zhao Meng did not run away like most males in nature.

  He and the female bird still have an important task to complete.

  He escorts the female and lays her eggs in the nests of other birds.

   Zhao Meng and the female bird flew away from the forest,

   And those male birds in the forest are still fighting...

  【In the sixth month, the female bird successfully laid eggs into the gray magpie's nest. 】

  Zhao Meng was letting the wind out on a branch beside him, observing the movement around him,

   Zhao Meng disagreed with the female bird laying eggs in the gray magpie's nest.

  Grey magpie is a small and medium-sized bird of Corvidae,

  Although it does not have the extremely high IQ of a crow.

  But this kind of bird's IQ is not average, Zhao Meng was a little worried about whether it would be discovered when it laid its eggs in the gray magpie's nest.

   And just when Zhao Meng was secretly worried,

  He noticed a gray figure flying in the distance,

  He hurriedly called out to remind the female bird. When the female bird heard Zhao Meng's voice, she immediately left the gray magpie's nest,

   Zhao Meng watched from a distance, and found a green egg had appeared in the nest.

"Walk!"

   Zhao Meng and the female bird hurriedly flew away from the gray magpie's territory,

  Although he is much larger than the gray magpie, this corvid is as aggressive as his close relatives.

  It took a lot of effort just now to lure him away from the nest and let the female bird lay eggs in the gray magpie's nest.

   "Yeah! Go on!"

  In the animal kingdom, most creatures adopt the strategy of multiplying and multiplying,

  In this way, the continuity of the species can be maintained to the greatest extent.

  Cuckoo birds also use this strategy,

  They will lay eggs in different nests, which can ensure the success rate of breeding parasitism.

   "Hey! The female bird has found a new nest!"

   Zhao Meng followed the female bird and flew in one direction,

   It is risky for a female bird to quietly lay eggs into other birds' nests.

   Therefore, the male bird is required to cover on the side,

  Or harass, or seduce, in short, let the bird guarding the nest, unable to notice the situation in the nest.

   "Hiss~ the lair it chose this time is..."

   Zhao Meng looked in the direction the female bird was flying,

   saw an unknown tree covered in thorns,

  The appearance of the tree is not important,

  The most important thing is that there are many small animal corpses strung on this tree thorn,

   There are sparrows, small snakes, small mice, insects... Some corpses have dried up, and some have worms.

   "Why does this female bird still fly upwards with a firm head? The birds in this place are not easy to mess with!"

  (end of this chapter)