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or fern-cliafer, commence with the month of July, and cease 
about the end of it. These scarabs are the constant food 
of Gaprimulgij or fern-owls, through that period. They 
abound on the chalky downs and in some sandy districts, 
but not in the clays. 
In the garden of the Black Bear Inn in the town of 
Reading, is a stream or canal running under the stables 
and out into the fields on the other side of the road ; in this 
REDBREAST. 
water are many carps, which lie rolling about in sight, 
being fed by travellers, who amuse themselves by tossing 
them bread ; but as soon as the weather grows at all severe 
these fishes are no longer seen, because they retire under 
the stables, where they remain till the return of spring. 
Do they lie in a torpid state ? if they do not, how are they 
supported ? 
The note of the whitethroat, which is continually repeated, 
and often attended with odd gesticulations on the wing, is 
harsh and displeasing. These birds seem of a pugnacious 
disposition; for they sing with an erected crest and atti- 
tudes of rivalry and defiance ; are shy and wild in breeding 
time, avoiding neighbourhoods, and haunting lonely lanes 
and commons ; nay, even the very tops of the Sussex 
Downs, where there are bushes and covert; but in July and 
