The Spring Peeper 



rapidly, all the tadpoles may perish 

 and leave only blackened stains on 

 the mud to show where they have 

 been ; but if it is more slow, or comes 

 but a short time previous to their 

 final . change, this change may be 

 hastened by the conditions and the 

 young Pickerings will leave the 

 water earlier and smaller than 

 is their wont. 1 



Pickering's Tree Frogs are likely 

 to be silent and in hiding during 

 July, but from the close of July until 

 December they may be found not 

 only in the woods, but in all sorts 

 of unexpected places. Their main 

 interest in life lies in hunting small 

 insects. The chase may take them 

 to the trees of the orchard, to the 

 low growths of the vegetable garden, 

 or to the shrubs and vines of the 

 flower-garden. They have been 

 found even in green-houses, appar- 

 ently attracted there by the moisture 

 and food supply. 



We may find "them on tree 

 trunks, in the tops of alder and 

 huckleberry, or Jon tall ferns. But 

 the greater number of them remain 

 on the ground, in the woods or about 

 the marsh. Like the young Wood 

 Frogs, ,they hide and leap and hunt 

 among the trailing dewberry, the 

 wintergreen, and the partridge-berry. 



We may hear them and find 

 them in November even, when 

 the sun shines down between the 

 bare trees to the yellow and red 



Pickering's H yla is still calling 

 in the woods, when the witch- 

 hazel's yellow flowers appear. 



1 This characteristic of adaptability, possessed by all of the Bactrachia, is more pronounced among 

 the Salamanders where the larval stage may be greatly shortened, or prolonged for months or years. 



