Evening star., 1898-09-10
HOW ANIMALS SLEEP
Almost All Seem TO Have Some Love
Of Home.
RETURN NIGHTLY TO THE SAME PLACE
Chosen Because 1t is Suitable for
Rest and Quiet.
BIRDS AND THEIR HABITS

resent most nearly their notion of home y
The place selected to pass the hours of
Sleep whether by night or day, is more
often than not devoid Of any efforts at con-
structiOn 1t is chosen for some qualities
which strike the owner as suitable for rest
and quiet and from that moment 1t
arousCs in the animal mind some part OF
the human sentiment which we know as
1.-The love IF home" This association of
IDEAS with their sleeping places is entire
Iy distinct from the so-caIled "homing in
stinct" or sense of direction 1t is SEN
timent not mental process. and is ex-
hlbited by creatures which are not COM
monty credited with memory or the power
OF thought. Some butterflies, for example,
return regularly to the same place te sleep,
and their prOverbial fightineSs docs not
prevent them from entertaining the senti-
ment of hOrae. Tne first vindication OF
butterfly me1nory was OCcaSlOned By the
regularity with which a small butterfly
named Precis Iphita returned to sleep In
yeranda of a musical club at Manghasar,
in the Dutch East India Islands Mr. G.
Fiepers, a member of the Dutch Entomo-
logical Society, noticed that this butterfly
returned the same place on the ceiling
during the evening. In the day ii was alb
sent, but at Eightfall. ia spite of the bril-
liant illumination of the veranda, it was
a gain sleeping in the same spot 1T was
not to be found in the daytime. being prob
ably absent on business, WHITES III Ilcp-
ers. but as civilization has not advanced
So far in Idanghasdr that it is there con-
sidered necessary TO drive away every
harmless creature which ventures into "a
human dwelling, / had the pleasure of ad-
miring the memory Of this butterfly for six
consecutive nights. Then some accident
probably befeH it. for / never saw any
trace Of il again.
insects and Birds.
It is difficult to imagine a spot with less
domestic features to adorn the home than
a piece Of the bare ceiling of a tropical We
randa but the attachment of animals 20
their chosen sleeping place must rest on
some preference quite clear to their own
consciousness though not evident to US
In some instances the ground Of choice is
intelHgibIe. Many of the small blue Brit
ish butterflies have grayiSh spotted backs
10 their wings. At night they fly regularly
to sheltered corners on the chalk downs
y here they live, aHght head dOwnTards on
the tops Of the grasses which there -four
tSh, and closing and lowering their wings
far as possible, look exactly like seed
head on the grasses If the night is cold
they creep down the stem and sleep in
shelter among the thick lower growth of
grass.
very unlike. some being very SoIicijous tn
be in bed in good time. while others are
awake and about all night. But among the
former the sleeping place is the true home.
the dOmus ct penetralIa. Ii has nothing
necessarily in common with the nest, and
birds, like some other animals and many
human beings, often prefer complete isoIa-
tlon at TINS lime They want bed room to
themselves. Sparrows, which appear to go
to roost in companies. and sometimes do so,
after vast amount of talk and fuss do
not rest cuddled up against oTse another
!lke star!lngs or chickens, but have private
holes and corners 10 sleep in. They are
fond OF sleeping in the sides Of straw ricks
but each sparrow has its own little hollow
81
sleeping ldrHs makes Its own ''cu5ic!c'' on
the ground. \ London sparrow has for two
years occupied d sleeping home almost as
bare OF furniture as the cejIina. " bicb tn.
East Indian butterfly frequeuted IL came
every night in winter TO slecD on a narrow
ledge under the portico Of a house in Ons-
low square Above was the bare white
washed top Of the pOrtiCo. there We're no
cosy corners. and at eighteen inches from
Ihe sparrow was the gas-Iit portico Lamp.
There every evening it slept and guests
leaEing thc house seldom failed 10 look ~,
and see the little pird fast asI-tD in lis engr-
nous white bed room. Its .ae1I}ar retur-
curing two winters is evidence. that il ra-
eSd,S eSlasa tI1 'his as It's home; but why did it
choose this particular pOrtico in place Of
hundred Others in the same square?
: Year After Year.
1t Is far cry from South Kensingtor
10 the southern cliffs; but the same sens.
OF nome which brought the sparrow back
iIshtiy L" his London portico brings the
coFhlorahts and the falcons to The sarna
spot III lhe same precipiee year after year
III I.-e Iu!Ser cliffs. There is a certain
60 81 eI meme IN which the peregrine fall
cons steep winter and summer in fbe viii
wal or the precipice and every rioh+ -.
@ u4sh Jhe corTnorants fly in to sleep on thar
uon OF the cliffs p''
Ihey come 10 these few SQUARE ,.ar5s o-
peLpendlcuia. chalk, 30O feet above rho
f1r9 70 %S SSoinst&htiy as the fishermen re-
Ihey regard this -ieeDinp, r,i.,ca a. e.fii .ii 10
L.Aed and certain home where. safe fro,,
sII sIli' cIasSinan. or ciif-fox. they can sIeeD
h,rsi,,,l IN l9s sends Them hungry to their
lt.Si'Itss o. hshing. But Of all animal sIae-,
IIs p-dt '-S, caves and caverns are rnoet re-
80 hdote Tor ancient ard diStinpuisbs1
LIaII' 'du0n- Like prehis oric man the ami
ils'Is dHke Of past ages and cf ~. -.
hour have made caves tbeir hnJ ~ ~reee.I0
dll4 that thty regard these in the Iiob+ AZ
A. - - y aIIHoSt certain. for they return to
e. sfi,F, ntth6r the last English rhinoc-
eIo7 sept in the Derbyshire cave whera his
oOhes We're found can ONLY he roattor ~ ae
conjecture But caves are the nat,,r,I
sleepihs places OF nearly all nocturnal cTas
eIlsS: "hiIh need by day protection from,
eneIni' and from the disturhirg i;tt
nohnw tres serve the smaller cr2a fI}1as
- Lne great caves. especially those OF tbe
TOplCal forest. whether on tho Orirooa =
In Central America or the TrG;a. ~, vi
peIaso or IN prehistoric Kentucky he
Deen the sleeping places Of miIijo,s -
creatures from the renotest aPeS ~ ~
eartn- Tnere sleep the Iegions Of the b,ts.
mere mere the dragons and monsters OF old
dreamed evil dreams after undjgested sr,r
IeitS or HaTsupial prey or of prehtstor;c
nSh from vanished seas: and there tha voif
the bear. the panther and the giant snal,s
Still sleep away the hours of day.
Sleeping Together
Other animals. in place of seeking and
maintaining a private bed room, prefer to
sleep together in companies. Aristotle's
remark that ''carefulness is least in that
mnich Is common to most" holds good cs
'hese communal sleeping places. Even
SleEer S creatures like pigs and domestic
GucKs nave no home" and no permanent
steeplhS quarters. Like the AustraIiae
oIack' VINO, when presented with a b0fIsa
pointed out the peculiar advantages Offered
oy square buildings. because they aiwsv.s
oHered a wall 70 sleep against outside
whenever way the wind blew. thew bsT,s
10 snlIt their quarters according To tho
weather with these limitations. pigs arc
extremely clever in choosing sIeepfng C,,,ar
ters- The wave Of heat during the sscor,5
week OF August was preceded by two days
OF very low temperature and rain In
row Of model pig sites during thasa Ia