So not only was the cuckoo's song considered inferior to that of orioles and swallows, after singing its doleful plaint for a thousand years, its appearance was also scruffy, and no match in beauty for the glossy, brightly colored plumage of the Muller's barbet, kingfisher or black-naped oriole.
以貌取鳥，杜鵑不僅叫聲不如那鶯鶯燕燕，哀啼了千年後，憔悴落寞，也無法與油頭華羽的五色鳥、翠鳥、黃鸝競顏。