HO IV BIRDS PASS THE NIGHT. 55 



forts you look forward to when bedtime comes, but 

 how would you feel to hear your mother say instead, 

 '' It is bedtime now, stand on one leg and go to 

 sleep"; or if she expected you to hang all night from 

 a crack in the wall; or, worst of all, if your bed con- 

 sisted of a pool of water, on which you were peace- 

 fully to float with your head tucked under your arm ? 



Almost all the singing birds, after they leave the 

 nest, perch on a twig as your canary does, the hind 

 toe bent around to meet the front toes, the feathers 

 fluffed out, the head snugly hidden under the wing. 



Parrots hang themselves up at night by their beaks, 

 and woodpeckers in their holes and Chimney Swifts in 

 chimneys hold themselves up by their feet and their 

 stiff tail feathers. Hawks and owls stand upright 

 while they sleep, but hens and turkeys bend their feet 

 so that their breasts rest on the perch. The w^ading 

 birds, herons, storks, and also the geese draw up one 

 foot, hide it in the soft feathers, and close their eyes. 



Their balance must be easier to keep than ours. 

 There are many things besides standing on one foot, 

 w^hich are easier for birds than for us, and positions 

 which they take easily when aw^ake naturally suit 

 them best for sleeping. If you or I could float as 

 easily as a duck, and if we wore w^aterproof down 

 quilts, a night on an icy lake might seem as pleasant 

 to us as one in a bed. 



