Legend has it that the feathers of the zhen bird are extremely poisonous.
Tips
history
饮鸩止渴 (yǐnzhènzhǐkě, 'drink poison to quench thirst') is the canonical chengyu, recorded in 《后汉书·霍谞传》 (Hòu Hàn Shū). It describes solving an immediate problem with a method that guarantees later disaster.
memory
The character is 鸟 (bird) on the right + 冘 phonetic on the left. Royal poisonings throughout Chinese history were often described as being 'gifted a cup of wine', meaning 鸩酒 (poisoned wine).
鸟 is the bird radical, here in simplified form. It places 鸩 in the bird family alongside 鸡鸭鹅鹰, all 鸟-headed characters for fowl. Specifically marks 鸩 as a particular legendary species, not a general avian term.
冘 supplies the sound (yín drifted to zhèn). The same phonetic powers 沉枕耽. A faint air of dim, sinking flavor fits the legend: 鸩 was a black bird whose plumage carried a slow, undetectable poison.
