SJOSTEDTS Kir.IMANDJARO-MERU EXPEDITION. 4. 



Bufo rcsiiilaris REITSS. 

 reyularis REUSS. BOTJLENGER, Cat. Batr. Sal. p. 298. 



1 specimen 4 ? 1905 Kibonoto. - 1 specimen 7 - 1905 Kibonoto. - 12 speci- 

 mens - . 1905 Kibonoto. - 1 specimen May 1906 Kibonoto. --3 specimens Ngare na 

 nyuki, Meru steppe, 1905. 1 specimen Mombo, Usambara, June 1906. 



"Often hiding deep under dry leaves. 



Concerning the habits af this toad Professor SJOSTEDT has made the following 

 communication from his diary: 



The 26th of July 1905 I sat in the workingroom at Kibonoto (1.300 m. above 

 the sea). The sun had set long ago and only the screams of Galago crassicaudatus 

 and the noise from the crickets broke sometimes the silence of the night. Then at 

 once some peculiar sounds were heard which resembled the drumming on a dry tree 

 trunk or reiterated snorerings of a sleeping man. To begin with weaker and with in- 

 tervals, but soon more intense and more continuous. I got interested and wanted to 

 make sure whether, as I believed, toads produced these sounds. I lighted an acetylen 

 lantern and went with some negroes, passing the Massai craal, down towards the farm. 

 With every step the noise became stronger, the snoring > and drumming* increased. 

 It soon became evident that the sound came from a dug up pond not far off and we 

 went there. In this great >pot> there was an almost ghastly concert. All around its 

 borders, which were partly concealed by the overhanging brims, it snored, clattered, 

 and drummed most awfully hollow. The coarser and finer sounds succeeded in a cer- 

 tain tempo as the snoring sounds at the time of ex- or inspiration. When the light 

 was reflected in the pond several spotted toads were seen floating at the surface, others 

 embracing each other swam round or dived down in the muddy water. But it was, 

 as already mentioned, from the, by overhanging grass partly concealed, borders of the 

 pond that the loud music came. The lantern was directed towards this border and, 

 when the overhanging long grass had been put aside, the sharp light made long- 

 rows of toads visible. They had partly or completely crawled up out of the water 

 and gave vent to their music most heartily. The throat was inflated to a great light 

 coloured vesicle in which the air seemed to work as in a bag-pipe. Without being 

 disturbed by the light they continued their concert clattering almost as storks. The 

 fore feet with the fingers spread rested on the red earth. The anterior part of the 

 body was elevated but the hind part often remained in the water. Very soon one 

 after the other of the animals was caught in the dip-net and then put in the cistern 

 with spirit but the remaining did not cease to make music. 



Still at 7 o'clock in the morning, thus about one hour after sunrise, some single 

 croaks were heard but they too became silent by and by. 



Three small specimens from Tanga 4 1905, and one specimen from Meru rain 

 forest 3,000 m. above the sea -' u 1905 have the tympanum hidden but agree other- 

 wise perfectly with Bufo regular-is and 1 think they only represent varieties of this 

 species. 



