. Bombay ducks; an account of some of the every-day birds and beasts found in a naturalist's Eldorado . sor seems to need. Some one has said that of the twenty-four hoursa wise man requires to sleep seven, a woman eight, achild nine, and an idiot ten. The lower animals prob-ably slumber from twelve to fourteen hours a of them sleep from sunset to dawn, while almostevery animal enjoys a prolonged rest during the heatof the day in the warmer weather. Only yesterday I was watching a wagtail hunting forinsects amid the stones of a mountain stream. Therewas no beating about the bush with h
. Bombay ducks; an account of some of the every-day birds and beasts found in a naturalist's Eldorado . sor seems to need. Some one has said that of the twenty-four hoursa wise man requires to sleep seven, a woman eight, achild nine, and an idiot ten. The lower animals prob-ably slumber from twelve to fourteen hours a of them sleep from sunset to dawn, while almostevery animal enjoys a prolonged rest during the heatof the day in the warmer weather. Only yesterday I was watching a wagtail hunting forinsects amid the stones of a mountain stream. Therewas no beating about the bush with him; he meantbusiness, 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 Then,quite suddenly, into his downy shoulders went his head,while one leg was retracted into his ruffled feathers,and, then and there, on a stone in midstream, he tookforty winks. Presently he roused himself as suddenlyand renewed the hunt. Every one must have noticed at the ZoologicalGardens that, except at feeding-time, the majority ofthe animals are asleep. Of course, I am aware thatsuch animals do not live natural or healthy lives, and I. IlEI) \VAG I All. THE OCCUPATIONS OF ANIMALS 15 only allude to them to show what animals are capableof in the way of sleep. Lastly, animals spend no inconsiderable portion ofthe day in play. The play of animals is too big asubject to be discussed at the tail end of an essay. Itmust suffice that nearly all the higher animals indulgein play; some go as far as to play regular games. The life of an animal bears the same relation to thatof a human being as an anthem does to a polemicoration. The anthem is made up of one short para-graph ; the speech is replete with facts and delivery of each may occupy the same time. Inthe former, two or three phrases are sung and resung;in the latter, weighty sentences follow in rapid succession,one upon the other. It may be said that, if such be the case, if animalshave thus to drag out their lives, they cannot be I deny. Animals
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