NATTER-JACK TOAD. 127 



as a British reptile, obtained his knowledge of it from Sir 

 Joseph Banks ; and we find from his account that it had 

 been observed both " on Putney Common, and near Tte- 

 verby Abbey, Lincolnshire, where it is called the Natter 

 Jack." It is common on Blackheath, and in several other 

 places in the neighbourhood of London ; I have found it in 

 considerable numbers near ponds and ditches not far from 

 Deptford, where they appear to have congregated for the 

 purpose of breeding. Mr. Jenyns mentions Gamlingay 

 Heath in Cambridgeshire, and two or three localities in 

 Norfolk. It would appear that Dr. Fleming was not aware 

 of its being an inhabitant of Scotland, as he does not add 

 this to the formerly known localities ; but Sir W. Jardine 

 has favoured me with the following account of its habitat 

 in that part of the kingdom: — " The Natter- Jack Toad is 

 taken in a marsh on the coasts of the Solway Frith, almost 

 brackish (certainly so in winter), and within a hundred 

 yards of spring-tide high-water mark. It lies between the 

 village of Carse and Saturness (Southerness) point, where 

 I have found them for six or seven miles along the coast. 

 They are very abundant. 1 ' Sir William has sent me some 

 specimens, which are in every respect the same as those 

 found in the neighbourhood of London. The greatest 

 number which I have ever known, however, is in my 

 own garden at Selborne, where the species is far more fre- 

 quent than the Common Toad. Dr. Broomfield has also 

 found it in numbers on Short Heath near that place. 



The habits of this species differ in some respects from 

 those of the Common Toad. It is less sluggish in its move- 

 ments, and its pace is ordinarily quickened to a sort of run, 

 its body being raised considerably above the ground during 

 its progress. It is most probable that its reproduction, and 

 all the stages of its development resemble those of the 



