Cuckoo

Scientific name: Rhododendron simsii Planch

Chinese name: Dujuan

English name: Cuckoo

Genus: Cuckooriformes, Cuckoo family

The cuckoo is similar in size to a pigeon, but is more slender, with a dark gray upper body and an abdomen covered with horizontal spots. The feet have four toes, with the second toe pointing forward and the second toe pointing backward. The flight was rapid and silent. Before and after the awning, its loud and somewhat sad cry can be heard almost day and night. The characteristic of the cry is four tones at one time - "cuckoo cuckoo, cuckoo cuckoo", "cut the wheat quickly! Cut the wheat quickly!" , "Sow the valley quickly! Sow the valley quickly!" So it is commonly known as the cuckoo. , mostly living in forests in tropical and temperate regions. About two-thirds of cuckoos, including all North American species, build nests and raise their own chicks; only about one-third raise their chicks parasitically.

Nest parasitism is a special reproductive behavior in which birds lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, and their adoptive parents incubate and raise the chicks. The meadowlark (Anthus pratensis) shown in the photo feeds the giant cuckoo, which is a type of interspecific nest parasitism. The great cuckoo is the most typical bird among the more than 80 species of nest parasitic birds. It can parasitize its eggs in the nests of 125 other species of birds.

The behavior of nest parasitism is manifested in: host selection. During the breeding period, the cuckoo looks for a host that is similar to the incubation and brooding periods, has basically the same feeding habits as the chicks, and has an egg shape and color that is easy to imitate. Most of them are bird-shaped. order birds. In terms of parasitism time, cuckoos often parasitize and lay eggs quickly before the host begins to incubate eggs, and take advantage of the host to leave the nest and go out. In late spring and early summer, they fly north. It does not make its own nests, nor does it incubate eggs. It lays an average of 2-10 eggs per year, but it places the eggs in the nests of thrushes and reeds, allowing these birds to carefully incubate them for it. And every time it flies to a nest, it only lays one.

The co-evolution of nest parasitism is reflected in the morphological characteristics of the host eggs. There is no significant difference in the color and size of the parasite's eggs. At the same time, the host's blurred identification of eggs is also an aspect. The impact on the host's reproduction is that the cuckoo often removes one of the host's eggs before laying eggs, or pushes them all out of the nest, forcing the host to lay eggs again. Once the nest-parasitized chick hatches, it has the habit of pushing the foster relative's chick out of the nest, so that it can exclusively take care of the foster parent, thus reducing the host's reproductive success rate.

The cuckoo bird that is said to cry blood should be the four-voiced cuckoo commonly known as the cuckoo. Upon closer inspection, the oral epithelium and tongue of the cuckoo are red, and the ancients mistakenly thought that it crows with blood all over its mouth. When the cuckoo sings, it is the time when the azalea is in full bloom, so there is also a saying that the color of the azalea is dyed with the blood of the cuckoo bird: "The rhododendron and the bird are so beautiful and beautiful. It is suspected that the blood in the mouth dripped into the branches. "On the flowers." (Cheng Yanxiong's "Azalea" in Volume 759 of "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty") "The azaleas are crying like blood, and they are like red. It must be that the lingering spring is not able to stay, and the wind and dew are cold in the night." (Qiu Jin)

According to Li Shizhen: "The cuckoo came out of Sichuan and is also found in the south today. It is dressed like a harrier, but its color is black and its red mouth has a small crown. It crows at dusk in spring and at night. , the sound will go to the north, especially in summer, and it will sound mournful day and night. Farmers are waiting for it, but they can't make nests because they eat insects. p>

The story of "Wang Di's Spring Heart Entrusts Cuckoo" is widely circulated among the people. It tells that in the ancient Shu Kingdom, there was a man named Du Yu. After he became emperor, he was called "Wang Di" and turned into a cuckoo after his death. . The name of the cuckoo bird probably comes from this.

A poem by Cai Xiang of the Song Dynasty said: "It is not only the savages who know that the plows are full of rain amidst the sound of cuckoos. It is not only the hoeing but the spring plowing is early, it is the time when the cooters are transformed into calves." Lu You also wrote in a poem: "The season has passed the Qingming Festival, and the cuckoos are chirping in the morning, but the spring is coming quickly, which is to urge the country's plowing, the red and purple branches are gone, and the green and yellow wheat ears are in place. From now on, there is no need to listen to the sound of Shun's string." The poem urges plowing. cuckoo. That is the cuckoo bird. Zhu Xizhen, a poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, "The cuckoo cries so that spring returns, and the cuckoo still cries blood while kissing it." This fully reflects the cuckoo's cuckoo's cries, which make the mouth dry and the tongue is bitter, the lips are cleft and bleeding, and the cuckoo's serious and responsible spirit .

In spring and summer, the cuckoo bird will sing continuously all night long. Its sad and sad cry often arouses people's various emotions. In addition, the cuckoo's oral epithelium and tongue are all Red, the ancients mistakenly believed that it "crows" until its mouth bleeds, which led to many legends and poems about "cuckoo cries blood" and "crows blood with deep resentment".