36 A GAMEKEEPER'S NOTE-BOOK 



twenty birds will huddle on a spot a yard in diameter. 

 The colder the weather the closer they roost. The 

 birds on the edge of the ring have their breasts out- 

 wards. Sometimes, by the way, it is unfortunate 

 for partridges and pheasants that the positions of 

 their nests prevent them from flying to and fro. 

 Having to force their way through tangled under- 

 growth, a trail is left for the fox to follow home. 

 The barn-door fowl, in captivity, may walk from her 

 nest ; but when in possession of a stolen nest abroad, 

 she resumes the flying habit. Fowls suffer fre- 

 quently from deformed breast -bones, perhaps from 

 roosting when their bones are young and soft. That 

 they and their cocks are not heavy sleepers most 

 people have cause to know. 



Wild animals asleep fall into graceful attitudes. 

 The fox curls himself up with all the luxurious air 

 of a cat ; he rests his head in the lap of 



the two front pads ' then twines his brusn 

 neatly round over his long, pointed nose. 



He is a light sleeper ; but hares and rabbits are still 

 more easily roused. We believe hares sleep with 

 their eyes wide open ; the uncapped lenses of the 

 eyes remain active through sleep, so that any vision 

 of danger conveys an automatic alarm to the brain. 

 People are sometimes puzzled when, in open fields, 

 they notice a dozen or more hare forms or beds within 

 a few yards of each other. They may conclude that 



