THE SLEEP OF BIRDS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11684, 13 July 1912, Page 1

THE SLEEP OF BIRDS.

The gamekeeper perhaps sees more of sleeping birds than most people; and makes many interesting mental. notes of the resting habits of creatures in his woods. . He observes 'that perch-roosting birds always rest.--ith their , heads to the wind. If, when a 4iigh wind is blowing a rook alights on the home-tree, he swings his head, into the wind before settling.- So when the,- wood-pigeons nome home "with the wind behind them ti.ey pass.over their, roosting trees, then beat up into the wind. THis is done to" defeat the force of the wind, which might prevent the bird alighting where desired or might blow himfroiniiis perch. r Attest, the bird-doubles' the knees, as it were, which, causes, 7 the toes to contract, the weight of the body resting chiefly on the breast and on the outspx-ead wing6—not on.the eggs, if in, a. nest; The birds' legs and feet have sinews-, which work an automatic locking of the claws,, so . that, roosting with knees , doubled up, the feet grip the branch, unr. failingly. On rough nights, the pheasants take tlie precaution of roosting in lower, branches than-usual. If a strong gale springs . up after a bird has gone to roost on an exposed tree, it may be driven .to seek a berth on . the ground—and to the wind that does no good to the pheasant the passing fox owes his supper.. y..Some birds "seem always half-awake. Wild-fowlers will strike a .match at .night to test the question of < the presence or absence of wild duck in the distant creek if present, an instant quacking will .betray them. Pheasants seem'ever vigilant, and on the, darkest night it is. difficult to stalk them unawares, howeyer quietly you move. If you come within: a hundred yards of guinea-fowl at night they wili raise the alarm. They excel at talking ill their sleep.. Sparrow-catchers know thatdirectly their nets touch; One part of an i ivy-covered wall birds fly out from another. But some birds,' such as the wrenswhen cuddling, in a : hole .in the thatch, seem to sleep, soundly. _ And while we have found tlfftt on. striking a match beneath a tree .where.; wild pigeons were roosting they have flowii out at once with a clatter of-wings,' a pig_eon-lover .in London informs us that his city birds, roosting on his window-ledge; 'lose: their .wariness by night, and" will: hold their own in face of a candle, while a-hand is outstretched to touch their necks

As the day closes in, ' the partridges eeok some sheltered, dry-lying hollow in the fields, and a covey of. twenty Birds, will huddle on a spot a yard in diameter. The colder "the weather the closer they rocst. The birds on., the edge of the Ting have their breasts outwards. Sometimes by the way, it is unfortunate for. partridges and pheasants that the positions of. their nests prevent theni from flying to and fro. Having to force their way through tangled undergrowth, a trail is left for the fox to follow home.

The barn-door fowl, - in captivity, may walk from her nestj but when in possession of a- etoktfi" nesfc abroad, she resumes

the flying habit. " Fowls suffer frequently" from deformed breast-bones, pei'haps frcni roosting when their,bones aw> youiig arid, soft. That they and their'cocks are not heavy sleepers most people have causo to know. —From "A Gamekeeper's NoteBook," by Owen Jones.and. Marcus Woodward. ' , . . . •'