16 STORY OF THE AMPHIBIANS 



tadpoles are, to a large extent, vegetable eaters — liv- 

 ing on grass and reeds. The tadpoles of the spade- 

 foot toad are said to be especially fond of each other, 

 and many are otherwise carnivorous. Such creatures 

 as ducklings, goslings on the water, and even chickens 

 on the banks, may be gulped by immense bullfrogs. 

 One large frog of the Solomon Islands is recorded 

 as catching birds, and the poisonous horned frogs of 

 South America — already noted (Fig. 10) — catch small 



Fig. 10. —Horned frog of South America (Ceratophrys cornuta). 



mammals. Large frogs may sometimes turn the tables 

 on the snakes and swallow the smaller ones. A snake 

 eighteen inches long has been found in a frog's 

 stomach. Fish and reptiles are sometimes eaten. In 

 confinement frogs eat each other. 



