JUNE. 203 



C. — "We had better return : for the musquitoes are be- 

 ginning to dispel every trace of the romantic, with their very 

 matter of- fact bites. — I wonder whether these vermin ever 

 sleep ? 



F. — They are active in their most congenial haunts at 

 every hour of day or night ; though possibly, like sailors at 

 sea, they keep " watch and watch ;" one set making fight 

 while the other sleeps. But, seriously, I have often doubted 

 whether any cold-blooded animals sleep, or at least whether 

 they are not able to do without it, for long-continued periods 

 at will. I have known fishes very remarkable and easily 

 recognisable, keep under the stern of a vessel and about her 

 rudder "for many days together, while sailing through the 

 ocean : if they had slept during that time, of course the ves- 

 sel would have left them ; and, besides, as there is no shel- 

 ter in the ocean, without going down to unfathomable depths, 

 I think if the smaller fish were to sleep, all exposed as they 

 must be, they would inevitably fall an unresisting prey to 

 those ravenous tribes which continually watch to devour 

 them. 



C. — There is a large bird flying across the road, just vi- 

 sible against the sky. Is it an owl ? 



F. — It is an owl, doubtless : from its size, though too 

 dimly seen for certainty, I should take it to be the Barred 

 Owl (Strix Nebulosa). It feeds on many small animals 

 which roam abroad at night, and, as Audubon says, is fond 

 of frogs. He is frequently seen in the afternoon, resting on 

 some low limb of a tree, and will suffer a person to approach 

 very close to him without troubling himself to move, and 

 when he does slowly throw open his great wings, and betake 

 himself to his silent flagging flight, he usually perches on 

 another limb a few rods distant, whence he glares with his 

 moony eyes at the intruder, as if in utter astonishment. 



