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 ? 
jP. — 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 J. 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. 
