AMPHIBIA. 



RANID.E. 

 Rana delandi (Giinther). 



No. 414. One specimen. Hullieh. 



The only example of this frog that was procured was found at 

 the bottom of a hole in the sandy bed of a river, where some of 

 my men were digging in their search of water. The frog was 

 down three or four feet from the surface. The beds of the Torgs, 

 or rivers, so-called in this part of Africa, are usually dry, water 

 only running immediately after a shower for an hour or so, when 

 it sinks and disappears in the sand, and sometimes it is neces- 

 sary to dig holes six to ten feet in depth before water is reached. 

 The rivers, it may be said, all run under ground. As the water 

 would not come to him this frog had gone to it. Another case 

 of Mahomet and the mountain. D. G. E. 



PHRYNOBATRACHUS. 



About ten miles from our camping place at Haili, on our jour- 

 ney back to Berbera, we stopped in the middle of the day to rest 

 and escape, if possible, the terrific heat of the sun. The place 

 chosen was near a small spring, the waters of which, increased 

 by the heavy showers that occurred nearly every day, had flooded 

 a small patch of ground on which some green grass was actually 

 growing. On reaching this we observed a number of small frogs, 

 which on being disturbed made, for their size, the most enormous 

 leaps I had ever seen. After considerable effort we collected a 

 number of specimens of this and the two following species, which 

 represented, I think, all the varieties that were present. It was 

 the only spot in all our journeying that we met with frogs above 

 ground. Haili is at the foot of the Gobis range, about thirty 

 miles southeast of Berbera. D. G. E. 



Phrynobatrachus hailiensis sp. nov. 



Two specimens. Haili. 



Body rather slender, snout narrower, slightly rounded, with 

 obtuse canthus rostralis ; tympanum distinct, round about i^ 

 in diameter of orbit. Toes two-thirds to three-fourths webbed ; 

 tips of ringers and toes not dilated into discs ; two metatarsal 



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