Common relationships between organisms include: predatory relationship, competition relationship, cooperative relationship, parasitism relationship, etc. "The mantis hunts the cicada, and the oriole follows behind." It reflects the predatory relationship between living things. The mantis and the cicada eat the cicada to obtain food to survive, which is a predatory relationship; the oriole and the mantis, the oriole eats the mantis. In order to obtain food to survive, it is a predatory relationship. Biologically, the relationship between producers and consumers eating and being eaten forms a food chain. The correct way to write a food chain can only start with producers and end with the highest-level consumers, with the arrow pointing to predators. Therefore, the food chain is: tree → cicada → mantis → oriole. Therefore, the proverb "The mantis stalks the cicada, followed by the oriole" describes the relationship between living things as a food chain.

So choose C.