关于这个"laid"是什么意思
Thecootsthatcouldn’ttellwhenastranger’segghadbeenstuckintotheirnestlaidthatmanyfeweroftheirown–sneakonein,thecootlaysonefewer.
参考全文如下：
Cananimalscount?Peoplecounteasily,fromthetimewearelittlekidsandlearnourone-two-threes.Butwhataboutotherspecies?Nowcarefulobservationsinthewildsupporttheideathatsomecan.
TheAmericancootisaduck-likeNorthAmericanbird.Sometimesacootwilltryandsneakoneofitseggsintoaneighbor’snest.Somecootsrecognizethedeception,androllthestranger’seggoutagain.Othersdon’tcatchon,andraisethestranger’seggastheirown.
ResearcherBruceLyonattheUniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz,andhisteamobservedaseriesofcootnestsforfourseasons,notingwhichbirdscouldspotastranger’seggsandwhichcouldn’t.Thentheycomparedhowmanyeggseachkindlaid.
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Theirfinding?Thecootsthatcouldn’ttellwhenastranger’segghadbeenstuckintotheirnestlaidthatmanyfeweroftheirown–sneakonein,thecootlaysonefewer.
Sneaktwoin,thecootlaystwofewer.Cootsthatsuccessfullyspottedintrudersknockedthemoutagainandthenlaidthesamenumbertheynormallywould.
Ifthenumberofeggslaidwereindependentofhowmanythecootseesinitsnest,cootsthatallowastranger’seggshouldwindupwithoneeggextra.Buttheydon’t.
Lyonarguesthat,alongwitheggrecognition,thecootsmustthereforebedoingsomeversionof“IseeIhavenineeggshere–timetostoplayingnow.”Andthatmeanscootscount.
Otherresearchersaren’tconvinced.Butthoughthedebategoeson,thecaseforanimalcountingjustgotstronger…bytheweightofonecoot.