What queer feelings the liule toad must Iiave when the soft, smooth 

 bottom of the pond and the pretty plants, and the water that sup- 

 ported it so nicely are all to be left behind for the hard, rough dry 

 land. But the little toad must take the step. It is no longer a tad- 

 pole, or half tadpole and half toad. It cannot again dive into the 

 cool, soft water when the air and the sunshine dry and scorch it. As 

 countless generations of h'ttle toads have done before, it pushes boldly 

 out over the land and away from the water. 



If one visits the natural pond at about this season (last half of June, 

 first of July), he is likely to see many of the little fellows hopping 

 away from the water. And so vigorously do they hop along that in a 

 few days they may be as far as a mile from the pond where they were 

 hatched. After a warm shower they are particularly active, and are 

 then most commonly seen. Many think they rained down. "They 

 were not seen before the rain, so they must have rained down." Is 

 that good reasoning ? 



While the httle toad is very brave in its way it is also careful, and 

 during the hot and sunny part of the day stays in the shade of the 

 grass or leaves or in some other moist and shady place. If it were 

 foohsh as well as brave it might be filled with vanity and stay out in 

 the sun till it dried up. 



Food on the Land. 



In the water the tadpole eats vegetable matter, but w^hen it becomes 

 a toad and gets on the land it will touch nothing but animal food, and 

 that must be so fresh that it is alive and moving. This food consists 

 of every creeping, crawling or flying thing that is small enough to be 

 swallowed. While it will not touch a piece of fresh meat, w^oe to 

 snail, insect or worm that comes within its reach. 



It is by the destruction of insects and worms that the toad helps 

 men so greatly. The insects and worms eat the grain, the fruits and 

 the flowers. They bite and sting the animals and give men no end of 

 trouble. The toad is not partial, but takes any live thing that gets 

 near it, whether it is caterpillar, fly, spider, centipede or thousand 

 legged worm; and it does not stop even there but will gobble up a 

 liornet or a yellow jacket without the least hesitation. 



It is astounding to see the certainty wn'th which a toad can catch 

 these flying or crawling things. The way the toad does this may be 



