115 



H Y L A . — Laurenti. 



Genus Hyla. — Characters. Tongue elliptico-circular, nearly entire, or but 

 slightly notched behind, and movable only at its posterior extremity; teeth in 

 upper jaw and palate, the latter either between posterior nares or a little before 

 or a little behind; tympanum distinct; male with a vocal vesicle; fingers four; 

 toes five, slightly depressed, the former free, the latter more or less palmated, and 

 all terminating in enlarged disks or viscous pellets. 



HYLA VERSICOLOR.— Lecon^e. 



Plate XXVIII. 



Characters. Resembling the toad in form, but more flattened; body short, 

 and warty above; colour varying at times from the palest ash to dark brown, 

 marked with several large irregular blotches of brown and frequently tinged with 

 green, white and granulated beneath; abdomen yellow near the thigh; leg shorter 

 than the thigh. 



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Synonymes. Hyla versicolor, Leconte, Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 281. 

 Hyla versicolor, Harlan, Med. and Phys. Res., p. 108. 

 Tree-toad, Vulgo. 



Description. This is a beautiful species of Hyla; its colours seeming almost 

 to vary at the will of the animal. The head is short, broad and obtuse, with a 

 dark brown spot on each orbit. The upper jaw is brown, marked with white 

 spots; the lower is entirely white. The mouth is large, the tongue sub-circular, 



