(i) He works (a) at night and sleeps (b) during the day.
(ii) Nocturnal animals sleep (c) by day and hunt (d) by night.
(source: OALD)
There’s a definite article in (b), while there're zero articles in the others. Why does (b) need one, while the others don't?
Answer
All those bolded examples are adverbial phrases, that is, a group of words acting together as an adverb.
As often is the case with phrases, it is easier to learn their meanings than reasoning about them. I think your question gives a good example where the article use cannot be deducted from the meaning of the phrase.
The collocation dictionary ozdic lists three meanings of day when used with a preposition. Note that the meaning depends on the preposition, and not on the article:
Preposition + day
period of 24 hours
- by the day: He's getting stronger by the day.
- for a day: They stayed for a day.
- in a day: We hope to finish the job in a day.
- on the day of: On the day of his wedding he was very nervous.
time between sunrise and sunset
- by day: We travelled at night and rested by day.
- during the day: He sleeps during the day
- for the day: We went to the seaside for the day.
particular period of time
- in somebody's day: Things were very different in my grandfather's day.
- of the day: the government of the day
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