"This cowbird! It's too ridiculous!"
Below Zhao Meng, a cowbird was beating up a robin.
As for why the cowbird was beating up the robin, it was because the robin had fed the cowbird's chicks to death.
The robin fled as it chirped.
The cowbird was still unwilling to let the matter rest.
It threw out all the remaining eggs in the robin's nest.
Then, it kicked the robin's nest over.
Zhao Meng was stunned for a long time when he saw this scene. Only when he heard the sound of the cowbird flapping its wings to fly away did he come back to his senses.
Looking at the cowbird that was flying away, Zhao Meng held it in for a long time before saying,
"Damn! This is called brood parasitism!"
Zhao Meng felt that his worldview had been overturned. Did such a bird really exist in his previous life?
…
Zhao Meng, who had hurriedly entered the second simulation, followed the cowbird to find out the reason for the brown-headed cowbird's victory.
This continued for more than half a month.
At first, the cowbird's behavior was considered normal. It foraged with the robin and changed the color of its eggs.
It secretly laid eggs in the robin's nest and carried out the brood parasitization process.
It was not until the cowbird's chicks began to hatch that the brown-headed cowbird's behavior became a little strange.
This bird began to return to the nests it had parasitized to investigate the incubation situation.
From this point on, the behavior of the brown-headed cowbird and the cuckoo differed.
After the cuckoo parasitized the nests, it would usually leave its offspring to their fate.
However, the cowbird would return to its previous nests to check on its offspring.
At first, Zhao Meng did not understand this behavior.
However, he soon discovered that some robins had very strong abilities to counter brood parasitism.
Once the robin noticed that there was something wrong with an egg in its nest, it would peck at it and throw it out without hesitation.
Under such circumstances, the cowbird had to carry out brood parasitism again to replenish the egg that had been thrown out.
After observing this situation, Zhao Meng finally understood why there was such a huge difference in the score between him and the cowbird.
He had underestimated the robin's reaction.
Although he understood this, he could not understand what had just happened.
"Why would this cowbird attack the robin and its nest after seeing its chicks die?
"Is such a bully's behavior just for revenge?"
This thought flashed through his mind.
But he rejected it.
Birds have a fast metabolism, which determines that many birds behave efficiently and purposefully and do not do useless things.
Zhao Meng, who had been a bird several times, knew the state of a bird very well.
However, even if he knew birds, he could not understand why the cowbird was flipping the table.
With doubts, Zhao Meng continued to follow the cowbird.
Fortunately, there were many phenomena in the biological world. As long as one patiently observed and analyzed them, one could always find some clues.
While following the cowbird, he realized that after the robin discovered that its nest had been destroyed, it would build a new nest at an even faster speed and lay eggs. The cowbird took the opportunity to lay eggs in the new nest.
Perhaps because the nest was built in a rush, the robin's ability to identify eggs had decreased, and the parasitic process had been particularly smooth in the new nest.
Apart from that, Zhao Meng also observed an even more terrifying phenomenon.
Perhaps it was because it had reproduced again, resulting in malnourishment, the newborn chicks of the robins could not compete with the chicks of the cowbirds.
In the previous nest, there were one or two chicks competing with the cowbird chicks.
However, the chicks in the new nest were easily squeezed out of their nests.
In the day or two after the cowbird chicks were hatched, the chicks in the nest and the unhatched eggs had all disappeared.
Only the cowbird chicks were left. They opened their mouths, looking like they were waiting to be fed.
"This cowbird is too evil!"
Zhao Meng, who had completely observed the brown-headed cowbird's reproduction strategy, sighed in his heart.
He had thought that the cuckoo was bad enough.
Unexpectedly, there were existences worse than cuckoos in nature.
…
It was almost summer again.
Zhao Meng, who had not laid many eggs, looked at the cowbird on the other branch and some thoughts appeared in his mind.
"From the survival ratio of the chicks, this simulation has failed!
"What will happen if I kill the cowbird from the start?"
At this moment, the situation had become a foregone conclusion.
However, Zhao Meng still wanted to give it a try and see if there would be any punishment for killing this despicable cowbird.
If there was no punishment, he might be able to cheat in the next simulation.
Of course, cheating was secondary. Zhao Meng was mainly uncomfortable with this bird.
…
…
Three days later.
[Simulation failed!]
Looking at these words, Zhao Meng sighed.
"As expected, there are still restrictions!"
At this moment, Zhao Meng was stepping on a bleeding bird corpse.
Neither he nor the cowbird were ferocious birds, but as a human, he knew how to use tools, so it was not difficult to kill the cowbird.
The consequence of killing the cowbird was that the simulation would fail.
"Looks like cheating is out of the question!
"Do I have to lay eggs obediently?"
Zhao Meng's consciousness returned to his body again. This time, he was not in a hurry to start the next simulation.
Instead, he opened his eyes and found some pen and paper to summarize something.
"The main bird in that jungle is the robin!
"And the anti-parasitic ability of the robin is very strong. It's very difficult not to be discovered after laying eggs in its nest!
"What's more, the nest of a robin is different from ordinary nests. It has a nest-edge structure. It's not easy for his chicks to push other chicks out!"
"More importantly, once the brown-headed cowbird discovers that its offspring are not born normally, it will destroy the nest and flip the table…"
At this point, Zhao Meng realized that simulating the cuckoo a second round was not simple.
After reviewing the reproduction strategy of the brown-headed cowbird, he found that attacking the nest had many benefits.
"The nest built in a hurry is looser, and it's easier for my offspring to exclude other chicks!
"Do I have to learn from the cowbird?
"Not only do I have to use the nest to lay eggs, but I also need to beat up the owner of the nest!
"Well …"
Zhao Meng's sense of morality resisted this practice.
However, he had already experienced being non-humans many times.
It was very clear that in the cruel biological world, the so-called justice and morality had never existed.
The wildness of nature dominated everything.
Thinking of this, Zhao Meng rested for a while before closing his eyes and preparing to start a new simulation.
"I wonder what kind of messages will be unlocked in the next two weeks?"
…
While Zhao Meng was simulating, Bai Geng walked in from outside the courtyard. He was about to say something when he saw Zhao Meng closing his eyes as if he was cultivating.
He did not make a sound and quietly waited for Zhao Meng to wake up.