3. When drawing the graph of $f(x)=a x^{2}+b x+c(a \neq 0)$, a table is first created. When the values of $x$ in the table increase at equal intervals, the corresponding values of the function $f(x)$ are: $3844, 3969, 4096, 4227, 4356, 4489$, 4624, 4761. One of these values is incorrect, and this value is ( ).
(A) 4096
(B) 4356
(C) 4227
(D) 4761
3.C.

Since the interval between the values of $x$ is equal, it is known that the values of $x$ form an arithmetic sequence $\left\{a_{n}\right\}$, with a common difference of $d$. After calculation, it is easy to obtain
$$
\begin{array}{l}
{\left[f\left(a_{n}\right)-f\left(a_{n-1}\right)\right]-\left[f\left(a_{n-1}\right)-f\left(a_{n-2}\right)\right]} \\
=2 a d^{2} \text { (constant). }
\end{array}
$$

By taking the difference between adjacent numbers in the given 8 numbers, and repeating this process once more, we get

Based on the fact that the result of the second difference should be a constant, we know that the incorrect value is 4227.