A STUDY OF THE FROG 13 



eggs, but are laid in strings instead of in masses. The young 

 tadpoles which hatch from these eggs look more like fish than 

 frogs. The body is long and ends in a long fin-like, flattened 

 tail. No legs are present, and the animal breathes by means 

 of two pairs of external gills. As the tadpoles grow and develop 

 first the hind legs and then the forelegs begin to appear, lungs 

 develop and the gills disappear, and the tail shortens and finally 

 disappears. The animal is now frog-like, though still very 

 small. Further growth is very slow and frogs are not really 

 adult, that is capable of producing young, until they are two 

 or three years old or older. 



The tadpoles feed upon vegetable matter and minute ani- 

 mals that they find in the water. The adults feed principally 

 on insects and worms, the toads especially destroying many 

 insects during the warm summer nights. As most of these 

 insects are sure to be injurious to some of the garden crops the 

 toads are to be regarded as great friends of the horticulturist, 

 and every effort should be made to keep them in the garden. 

 As a result of a series of studies on the habits of the common 

 toad it has been estimated that a toad in a garden may be worth 

 nearly $20 in a single season. As they may live for ten years 

 or longer they are truly valuable assets of the gardener. 



Toads and frogs have many enemies, among the most im- 

 portant of which are snakes and some of the shore birds. From 

 some of these enemies they have little or no protection save 

 their nocturnal habits and their ability to dive deep into the 

 water when alarmed. The milky fluid which is secreted by 

 ertain glands in the skin protects them from some animals which 

 might otherwise be important enemies. There is no founda- 

 tion for the belief that the toad will cause warts to appear on 

 the hands of a person handling it, nor for many of the other 

 curious superstitions concerning this perfectly harmless little 

 animal. 



