THE SLEEP OF BIRDS 85 



matic locking action of the claws, so that, roosting 

 with knees doubled up, the feet grip the branch 

 unfailingly. On rough nights, the pheasants take 

 the 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. 



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, however 

 quietly you move. If you come within a hundred 

 yards of guinea-fowl at night they will raise the 

 alarm. They excel at talking in their sleep. Sparrow 

 catchers know that directly their nets touch one part of 

 an ivy-covered wall birds fly out from another. But 

 some birds, such as the wrens when cuddling in a 

 hole in the thatch, seem to sleep soundly. And while 

 we have found that on striking a match beneath a 

 tree where wild pigeons were roosting they have 

 flown out at once with a clatter of wings, a pigeon- 

 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 seek some shel- 

 tered, dry-lying hollow in the fields, and a covey of 



