Gao Fei hurriedly took two steps, climbed up the hillside, and came to classmate Xiao Ma.
"Rich man, what's wrong?"
"Look over there, there's a strange big bulge on the grass!"
Looking in the direction of her finger, I saw a cone-shaped earth bag bulging on the grass opposite, about two meters high and four meters in diameter. At first glance, it looked like a grave.
Gao Fei walked closer to observe out of curiosity and found that the top of the mound was covered with a thick layer of leaves, emitting a rotting smell.
"This mound does not look like it was formed naturally..." Ma Yun said thoughtfully, "Either it is the tomb of the local indigenous people, or it is some kind of religious altar, like the Nyima Mound in Tibet."
Tangning also walked over and couldn't help laughing when she heard Ma Yun's guess.
"Sister Tang, why are you laughing?"
"Xiaoyun, I'm thinking that travelers from different places who come into contact with unfamiliar things in a strange land will often make similar interpretations based on their own experiences. Perhaps this reflects the similar deep structure of cultures in various countries.
"
"However, this way of interpreting things by referring to others can occasionally lead to misunderstandings. The so-called 'Orientalism' is probably the product of such misunderstandings."
"Good guy! Sister Tang, you talk about structuralism and Orientalism. We science students really can't stand it!"
Ma Yun scratched her head.
"Well, let me speak in human terms. When the Western colonists who set foot on this land two centuries ago saw these large mounds covered with leaves for the first time, they had the same idea as you and thought they were the tombs of local indigenous people.
mound."
"It wasn't until the 1840s that a naturalist who came to the island to investigate suddenly had a whim: Why not open up the pile of leaves and see what's inside?"
"Oh! Then what?" Xiao Ma asked excitedly.
"The scholar dug up the mound and found that it was filled with damp, rotten branches and leaves. There were also a few bird eggs hidden among these rotten and fermented plants." Tang Ning revealed the answer with a smile.
"Oh! I know! Use the heat generated by compost fermentation to hatch bird eggs!" Ma Yun clapped her hands excitedly, "So this is the nest of the tomb bird!"
"Would you like to open the bird's nest and see if there are any eggs inside?"
Jiang Feng picked up the wooden stick and eagerly wanted to poke the bird's nest.
"Forget it, don't do such immoral things!" Gao Fei quickly stopped his girlfriend.
"I have seen this kind of bird in a documentary. It is said that it is mainly distributed in Oceania and nearby tropical islands. The mound bird does not incubate the eggs itself, but lays the eggs in rotten leaves and soil mounds, and releases them when the organic matter decays.
The thermal energy hatches the baby birds.”
While Ma Yun was reminiscing, she took out her mobile phone and took pictures of the chirping bird's nest.
"You may not imagine that such a large mound and the large pit more than one meter deep inside were all dug by the male bird alone. The amount of work is equivalent to a man building a building alone!" Tang Ning told Man.
Visitors with curious faces introduced.
"Good guy, this construction with bare hands... No, it should be said that the ability of construction with bare hands is even inferior to that of the Australian guy."
Gao Fei sighed.
"Only the male bird builds the nest?" Jiang Feng asked in confusion, "Don't the female birds work together?"
Tang Ning shook his head and smiled: "When the male coffin bird is busy on the big leaf pile, he will drive the female bird away. Only when the nest is completed will he call the female bird over and lay eggs in the nest."
"During the long days when the eggs hatch, it is also the male bird who is responsible for taking care of the nest and eggs. From time to time, he makes a hole in the soil and sticks his head inside to detect the temperature, making sure that the inside of the nest always maintains the temperature required for the eggs to hatch.
."
"It is not until seven weeks later that the chicks hatch out of their shells and emerge from the pile of leaves that the male bird completes its mission."
After listening to Tang Ning's story, everyone had a little more respect for the mausoleum bird, which can be called a model husband among birds.
Only Qi Tian looked disapproving and complained in a low voice: "This habit of the male campbird... can be said to be a typical bird among Guo Nan."
This is a good joke.
But for various reasons, everyone pretended not to hear.
The SWAT officers continued to move forward while chatting and laughing, and came to a sparse bush. Suddenly there was a sound like a rooster crowing in the forest.
"What's that noise?" Gao Fei listened intently.
"It's like the call of a bird in a graveyard." Tang Ning frowned slightly, "The bird's song was rapid and intense, as if it had encountered a natural enemy."
Hearing what she said, Gao Fei became more and more curious.
Anyway, I was on my way, so I took my companions there to have a look.
A group of seven people walked lightly into the bushes.
In the clearing in the middle of the woods, there stands a pile of bird's nests made of soil and leaves.
Countless dark brown ants surrounded the bird's nest, busily moving in and out.
The number of ants is so numerous that it makes one's scalp numb. At a glance, they look like brown waves undulating on the grass.
A big bird that looked like a rooster stood on a branch of a tree. Its feathers and comb were black and blue, shining with metallic luster. It looked at the bird's nest that had been invaded by the ants and cried out in anger and helplessness.
"Is that a tomb bird on the tree?" Jiang Feng asked Tangning in a low voice, "Why does it look a bit like a rooster?"
"Male moundbirds are always like this." Tang Ning replied.
"Sister Feng, the tomb bird belongs to the order Galliformes, a close relative of the pheasant." Ma Yun added.
At this time, Gao Fei noticed a group of ants crawling out from the depths of the bird's nest, working together to drag a small fluffy thing.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that it was a small mound bird that had just hatched. Before it had time to open its eyes, it was surrounded by ants and bitten to death. It was dragged out of the nest with the intention of eating it.
When other ants smelled the blood, they also gathered around like crazy, fighting to gnaw the baby bird.
The father bird hiding on the branch of the tree saw this scene and spread his wings with grief and anger, but he did not dare to pounce down to fight the crazy ant colony, so he could only scream helplessly.
"md! I can't stand it anymore!"
Wang Daqing couldn't bear it anymore, drew out his electric baton, activated "Thunder Slash", and strode towards the Bird's Nest.
"Brother Daqing! Don't be impulsive——"
Ma Yun tried to dissuade Wang Daqing, but was pulled back by Gao Fei.
"The richest man, let Brother Daqing go."
"But ant colonies are not evil. They are part of the local ecosystem and occupy a stable niche in the food chain. Devouring baby birds does seem cruel. However, this is a normal predatory behavior and we have no reason to interfere.
."
Seeing Xiao Ma's serious look, Gao Fei couldn't help but laugh.
"Rich man, don't forget that we are also part of the ecosystem. It is natural for ants to prey on young birds. Brother Daqing is unhappy with the ant colonies and takes action to eliminate them. It is also a reasonable behavior."
"You are sophistry!" Ma Yun said unconvinced, "Ant colonies hunt birds for survival. We don't eat ants, so why are we killing them when we have nothing to do?"
