ANIMAL SLEEP 13 



of security, like the bear, or even the leopard, which 

 usually sleeps on the branch of a tree. It just lies 

 down in some convenient spot, either shady or warm, 

 according to the weather, and there sleeps, almost 

 regardless of danger. They have been found lying 

 in dry nullahs, under trees, and even in the grass of 

 the hill-sides, unobserved, until their disturber came 

 within a few yards of them. General Douglas 

 Hamilton, when shooting in the Dandilly Forest, 

 came upon a tigress and two cubs lying fast asleep 

 on their backs, with their paws sticking up in the 

 air, under a clump of bamboos. When he was 

 within a few yards of the group, one raised its 

 head and without moving its body quietly looked 

 at him along the line of its body between its paws. 

 Tigers kept in captivity awaken gradually, stretching 

 and yawning like a dog. Yet, like the dog, they 

 possess the power of vigilance in sleep, which they 

 can use if required. Those at the Zoo will spring 

 to their feet in a second, when apparently in deep 

 sleep, if they hear the keepers moving at the back 

 of the cages, near the store where their food is 

 kept ; and in parts of India where they are much 

 disturbed by hunters, they sleep as lightly as deer. 

 Dogs, which are at once the drowsiest and most 

 wakeful of domestic animals, according to their 

 state of mind and circumstances, seem to sleep 



