Hai Collection, Middle Volume Radical: Bird (niǎo) Kangxi Strokes: 24 Page 1503, Entry 04 According to the Extensive Rhyme (Guangyun), pronounced yu. According to the Collected Rhymes (Jiyun) and the Rhyme Association (Yunhui), pronounced yuan, read the same as the character for worry (yu). Ze-yu is the name of a bird, also known as Huze. It typically lives in marshes and resembles an official in charge of protection. There is also a bird called the gray-yu. The Chart of White Marsh (Baize Tu) records that the gray-yu has nine heads. Folklore states this bird originally had ten heads, but one was bitten off by a celestial dog. It drips blood constantly, and whoever’s house the blood touches will suffer misfortune. In the Jing-Chu region, people who hear it flying and calling at night compete to imitate dog barks to drive it away, as it fears dogs. The Correct Character Dictionary (Zhengzitong) states that the gray-yu is an ominous bird, also called the ghost-cart bird or the nine-headed bird. Its shape resembles a scops owl; when its large wings are spread, they measure about one zhang. It is invisible during the day but has good vision at night and will fall if it sees fire. Conversations in Qidong (Qidong Yeyu) record that this bird resembles a wild duck, is red in color, and has a body as round as a winnowing basket. It has ten heads arranged in a circle, but only nine remain, with one neck missing a head and dripping blood. Each neck is connected to two wings, and it flies forward. There is another type called the Guhuo bird, also known as the wet-nurse bird. If a child's clothes are left hanging out to dry at night, this bird will fly over and stain them with blood, causing the child to suffer from convulsive illnesses.