Bufonidae 



river margins, and ponds at any time during the late spring and the 

 summer months. Occasionally, however, in some shallow country 

 pond, there will be, for a few nights, so many hundreds of these 

 toads that it would seem that all the Fowler's toads had assembled 

 for miles around. The males outnumber the females to an aston- 

 ishing extent. Out of eighty toads captured on such an occasion, 

 only seven were females. The loud, weird chorus made by such 

 an assembly of Fowler's Toads is described as a " terrible squawk- 

 ing" by some who have heard it. Others have compared it to 

 the persistent whooping of a party of Indians. 



The eggs are laid in long tangled strings, like those of the 

 American toad. (See Fig. 76.) The eggs are slightly smaller than 

 those of Bufo americanus, and may be arranged in one or in two 

 rows in the same laying. The development of this species is rapid. 

 Owing to the length of the breeding season, we may find young 

 Fowler's toads of many different sizes during the summer and 

 autumn. They show the cranial crests and the characteristic 

 spots within three or four weeks after the tail is lost. 



The adult Bufo fowleri is delicately moulded and is more 

 slender than most North American toads. It is also better de- 

 veloped for leaping, the legs being unusually long. (See Fig. 

 84.) 



The habit of the toad is what would be expected from its struc- 

 ture it is as agile as a frog, and difficult to catch. After the 

 breeding season, the remainder of the summer and the autumn 

 are spent in a toad's ordinary haunts. We may see the Fowler's 

 spotted back at the sides of country roads, in parks and gardens, 

 and in waste fields and pastures, where insects are numerous. 

 There is marked uniformity in size and colour among the adult 

 toads, much more so than in Bufo americanus. 



Few people, if any, living in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 

 realise that there are two kinds of toads in these states. Bufo 

 fowleri differs from Bufo americanus distinctly and fundamentally 

 as follows : 



It is always yellowish or greenish grey, never taking on the 

 rich yellow, orange, and red browns of the American toad. It is 

 uniformly more spotted and striped in colouration. The under- 

 parts are never spotted as they are in the other toad. It is usually 

 less fat and squat, and is much more agile. The muzzle projects 

 farther beyond the jaw. The parotoids are narrower and are 



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