RANA PALUSTRIS. ■ 97 



Habits. The Rana palustris is very similar in its habits to the Rana halecina; 

 it is generally found in the neighbourhood of ponds or rivers, yet I have often 

 seen it in the morning after heavy dews at a great distance from water. 



General Remarks. Leconte first called the attention of naturalists to this 

 frog, and established it as a distinct species, under the specific name Rana 

 palustris. It is singular that this very common animal should have been so long 

 overlooked, and especially by so accurate a naturalist as Kalm: it may have been 

 confounded with the Rana halecina, from which it can be distinguished by the 

 more obtuse head, the absence of cutaneous folds on the back, the different form 

 of the spots, and by its peculiar, strong and disagreeable odour. 



Preserved in alcohol this animal bears much resemblance to the Rana halecina, 

 but no one would confound the living animals. The flesh of this frog is very 

 delicate; and is much used by anglers as bait for pike, whence its common name 

 of Pickerel-frog. 



Vol. IV.— 13 



