Cover Image:

Viewed through an "Art" lens:
The artist, Lars Jonsson, calls attention to the female closest to the viewer, noting: "the intricate pattern of her flank feathers and the reflection," and then describes other individuals: "The birds around her play supporting roles. The stretched neck of the center male acts as a 'church tower' to guide the viewer to the 'central plaza' of the community." Jonsson also describes the female to the near left". . . . Her closed eye, backward preening action, and downward pointing flanks direct attention to where her body meets the water and the reflection takes over."

[Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum 2005 Birds in Art Catalog, p. 73.]

Viewed through a "Science" lens:
In addition to various degrees of male attentiveness, the painting neatly portrays unihemispheric sleep. Unihemispheric sleep is the notion that some animals--for example seals, dolphins, and other marine mammals who must sleep but also remain in motion day and night when at sea are thought to sleep half a brain at a time. These birds are thought to be unihemispheric sleepers, too.