14 BOMBAY DUCKS 



live upon bigger game, which cannot be caught with- 

 out much effort, no doubt often find that the day is 

 none too long to enable them to obtain a sufficient 

 meal. 



It is a merciful provision of nature that herbivorous 

 animals, whose food is lying waiting for them on all 

 sides, have to eat a terrific quantity in order to satisfy 

 their hunger, otherwise such creatures would surely 

 soon grow weary of life. Animals spend much time in 

 sleep. The lower the development of the brain, the 

 more repose its possessor seems to need. 



Some one has said that of the twenty-four hours 

 a wise man requires to sleep seven, a woman eight, a 

 child nine, and an idiot ten. The lower animals prob- 

 ably slumber from twelve to fourteen hours a day. 

 Most of them sleep from sunset to dawn, while almost 

 every animal enjoys a prolonged rest during the heat 

 of the day in the warmer weather. 



Only yesterday I was watching a wagtail hunting for 

 insects amid the stones of a mountain stream. There 

 was no beating about the bush with him ; he meant 

 business, and most methodical was his search. Then, 

 quite suddenly, into his downy shoulders went his head, 

 while one leg was retracted into his ruffled feathers, 

 and, then and there, on a stone in midstream, he took 

 forty winks. Presently he roused himself as suddenly 

 and renewed the hunt. 



Every one must have noticed at the Zoological 

 Gardens that, except at feeding-time, the majority of 

 the animals are asleep. Of course, I am aware that 

 such animals do not live natural or healthy lives, and I 



