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parasitic, since its life is speedily destroyed. The 

 larvae Lave been mostly referred to Luc ilia silvatica 

 and Oalliphora erythrocephala. It has been suggested 

 that the eggs may have been laid in the mouth of the 

 toad whilst feeding, but it appears to me more 

 probable that certain flies simply avail themselves of 

 ulcers, from which these Batrachians not uncommonly 

 suffer, especially about the snout ; in which case the 

 nasal cavities become converted into a nursery, whence 

 the swarming larvae soon spread to the eyes and brain, 

 until the whole head is eaten away, leaving nothing 

 but the skull partly covered by the tough integument. 



Owing, no doubt, to the necessity for securing food 

 in greater quantity, young specimens are more diurnal, 

 and may be found in the daytime going about in damp 

 places in woods or other shady localities. During periods 

 of drought myriads of tiny toads, which have been 

 compelled to leave the water after the metamorphosis, 

 conceal themselves under stones and in fissures in the 

 soil, whence they emerge all at a time during or after 

 a heavy shower in such numbers that it is sometimes 

 impossible to walk along a path without crushing a 

 lot. Such sudden apparitions have given rise to the 

 idea of showers of toads. 



Pairing takes place from two to four weeks later 

 than in the common frog ; in England between the 

 end of March and the middle of April, somewhat 

 earlier in warmer latitudes, and as late as the beg-in- 

 ning of May in Norway, when toads congregate in 

 large numbers in ponds and pools, very rarely in 

 shallow ditches. The males are always much the more 

 numerous, and quarrel with rage over the females ; 

 their cry resembles the distant barking of a little 

 dog. The male seizes the female by poking the 

 clenched fists in the axils, and the embrace is so 

 frantic that it is extremely difficult to dislodge him. 

 Individuals of the former sex are usually smaller, and 

 it is not rare to find a young male paired with a 

 female at least twice his length. If the weather be 



