HOW BIRDS SLEEP

Shannon News, 12 August 1927, Page 4

HOW BIRDS SLEEP

Very few laymen can understand why a tree-perching bird does not fall off a slender branch when it goes to sleep and becomes unconscious. The answer is that it cannot. The bending of the kneos in the act of sittingdown tightens the muscles of the toes in such a way as virtually to lock the sleeping bird on" its perch ,and it cannot leave until they are straightened and the muscles of the toes relaxed (writes Mr Richard Kearton in the 'National Review'). Another phase of the matter which puzzles the popular mind is: Why do birds puff out their plumage when going to sleep? This is done in order to retain the heat of their bodies. Air is a bad conductor, and by entangling a certain amount of it between their feathers it is kept still, and acts the part of a wrapper. In order to prove this it is only necessary to men tion that two light overcoats will keep a man's body warmer during a cold winter's day than a single heavy one. Th e entangled air between the two garments prevents th e natural heat the man's body from escaping.