178 ARTHUR M. BANTA. 



But no females were in evidence while on the following day they 

 were as abundant as they ever appear. The females are much 

 less numerous than the males. One is convinced that there are 

 at least a dozen and possibly twenty males to every female. 

 It would be easy to overlook the females entirely except during 

 the height of the pairing season when by careful observation one 

 can usually locate a few pairs, though the writer has never been 

 able to find as many as a dozen pairs at a time in the whole pond, 

 including those at the surface and the ones visible under water. 

 The arrival at the pond was observed in the case of two females 

 (forenoon of March 29, 1912). The behavior of one of these was 

 noted as follows: 



"Saw a female, a very light reddish orange one, enter the pond 

 from the up-hill side. Saw her distinctly as she left the bank, 

 made four or five bounds before reaching the water and plunged 

 in without hesitation. Swam under at once and went for a dis- 

 tance of ten feet under the water, then came up again but dodged 

 under when a male approached and went under a submerged 

 leaf. She came to the surface again in seven minutes, then 

 went under a leaf again and in the next five minutes repeated 

 these movements two or three times. All the time she was get- 

 ting farther away from the center of the chorus where she had 

 entered the pond. Later she swam along the edge under water 

 and away from the chorus and came to the surface twice, then 

 swam across the pond under water and did not come up at once. 

 Her actions could not be followed longer." 



From such observations it seems evident that the females (and 

 doubtless the later arrivals among the males) are attracted to the 

 pond by the croaking males but that once in the pond the 

 females endeavor to avoid the males, at least for a time. 



The frogs generally remain at the pond only as long as the 

 mating activities last. The females are apparently much 

 weakened by the mating and egg-laying activities. Spent 

 females were observed leaving the pond while the chorusing of 

 the males was still at its height. Such females appear to be as 

 attractive to the males as before laying the eggs and attempts to 

 leave the pond are often frustrated by the active males. 



The departure of males was less often observed and appears to 



