Magpies pecked at pedestrians to guard dead compatriot

时间：2007-06-13 06:58:10

（单词翻译:单击）

Chinanews, Xi'an, June 13 – After a small magpie1 died, a dozen of magpies2 hovered3 around the tree where it died. The adult magpies “guarded” the tree and wouldn't allow anybody to come near. If anyone did come near the tree, the magpies would peck at his or her head, the Chinese Business View reported.

 

Last Sunday, at noon, some traffic police were patrolling streets in Xi’an. When the police walked at the crossroad in Wenyi and Youyi streets, they found a strange scene. Whenever pedestrians4 walked by a tree near the roadside, a group of magpies would dive on him or her and pecked at his or her head. Many pedestrians were hurt in this way. The policemen didn't know why these magpies were so angry. At last, the policemen had to stop there and guide pedestrians.

 

The police were told that a small magpie had died a couple of minutes previously5. One policeman, Zhao Ling，checked the dead bird's remains6 and found that the bird's tail feather was plucked!

 

“It seemed that someone must have killed the bird and the rest of the birds saw the whole process and began to hate all people passing by,” Zhao hypothesized.

 

At 11:30, when four or five magpies still flew around the tree, their cries sounded sad. At that time, a pedestrian, Mr. Sun, wanted to walk close to the tree in order to have a better look at the dead bird. However, before he could come near, three magpies began to attack him! One bird swooped7 down on him and pecked at his head.

 

“These birds are so intelligent,” Mr. Sun said afterwards.

 

At 12 o'clock, the policeman, Zhao Ling, carefully wrapped the remains of the dead bird (the other policemen had to protect him from being hurt by the other birds) and buried the remains at the foot of another tree.

 

“If I didn't bury it, the other birds wouldn't leave at all,” Zhao said.

 

Before he went to bury the dead bird, Zhao waved at the other birds, which were hovering8 around the tree seemingly reluctant to leave.

 
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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 magpie oAqxF     
n.喜欢收藏物品的人，喜鹊，饶舌者
参考例句：
  • Now and then a magpie would call.不时有喜鹊的叫声。
  • This young man is really a magpie.这个年轻人真是饶舌。
2 magpies c4dd28bd67cb2da8dafd330afe2524c5     
喜鹊（magpie的复数形式）
参考例句：
  • They set forth chattering like magpies. 他们叽叽喳喳地出发了。
  • James: besides, we can take some pied magpies home, for BBQ. 此外，我们还可以打些喜鹊回家，用来烧烤。
3 hovered d194b7e43467f867f4b4380809ba6b19     
鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫
参考例句：
  • A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
  • A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。
4 pedestrians c0776045ca3ae35c6910db3f53d111db     
n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )
参考例句：
  • Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
5 previously bkzzzC     
adv.以前，先前（地）
参考例句：
  • The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
  • Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。
6 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹
参考例句：
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
7 swooped 33b84cab2ba3813062b6e35dccf6ee5b     
俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
  • The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
  • The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。
8 hovering 99fdb695db3c202536060470c79b067f     
鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫
参考例句：
  • The helicopter was hovering about 100 metres above the pad. 直升机在离发射台一百米的上空盘旋。
  • I'm hovering between the concert and the play tonight. 我犹豫不决今晚是听音乐会还是看戏。

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