Bufo fowleri Putnmn in Missouri 3 



is not limited by the mountains but continues far beyond 

 them, reaching, in at least this one locality, the west side 

 of the Mississippi. 



The writer first found Bufo fowleri in St. Louis 

 during May, 1920, when large numbers of these toads 

 were heard singing in Forest Park. He had earlier had 

 abundant opportunity in Maine and Massachusetts to 

 become familiar with the habits and calls of typical 

 Bufo americanus and Bufo fowleri but had not previously 

 been aware of the latter species in Missouri. This is 

 probably because no collection of toads had been made 

 and also because of the din of automobiles in the St. 

 Louis parks on warm evenings, the only time when Bufo 

 fowleri calls. As soon as the notes were recognized a 

 number of specimens were captured and found to be typi- 

 cal examples of Bufo fowleri. One of them was sent to 

 the Agassiz Museum where it was submitted to Mr. 

 Eramett Dunn, who verified the identification. 



Since Hurter" mentions only Bufo americanus, the 

 question arises as to whether he had never collected 

 Bufo fowleri or had failed to differentiate it. Conse- 

 quently a letter of inquiry was addressed to the National 

 Museum, where the Hurter collection is deposited. In 

 reply Dr. Stejneger stated that he had had the Missouri 

 specimens examined and found that out of a total of 

 thirty-five, thirty-three were Bufo americanus, but that 

 one, #15871, had most of the characters of a typical Bufo 

 fowleri while another, #57495, was intermediate. The 

 latter specimens were both collected by Mr. Hurter at 

 St. Louis. These data would seem to indicate that the 

 species is confined in Missouri to the region of St. Louis, 

 but since they also show that Mr. Hurter was not on the 

 lookout for Bufo foivleri, the possibility remains that it 

 may be more or less widely distributed in the state. 



Since the literature relating to Bufo fowleri is 



11. Julius Hurler, Sr.: Herpetology of Missouri. Transactions of 

 the Academy of Science of St. Louis, vol. 10, No. 5, 1911. 



