2o6 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



of the American frogs, measuring up to eight inches in 

 length. The body is very stout. The snout is rounded, 

 and not projecting beyond the border of the mouth. 

 The tympanum is extremely large, especially in males, 

 equalling or exceeding the eye in size. The toes are 

 completely webbed. The skin is perfectly smooth. 

 The colour of the upper parts vary from olive to dark 

 brown, with or without dark spots ; the arms and legs are 

 usually barred. 



Bull Frogs, which have derived their name from their 

 croak, which bears some resemblance to the distant roar 

 of a bull, do not awake from hibernation until the end of 

 May or the beginning of June, when they collect together 

 in numbers in large ponds. The tadpoles, which are 

 remarkable for their size, measuring as much as seven inches 

 in length, do not turn into frogs until the second or some- 

 times even the third year. Like the European Edible 

 Frog, the Bull Frog seldom leaves the water, where it feeds 

 on all sorts of animals. Captive specimens may be given 

 worms, small birds, and mice. The Bull Frog is much 

 esteemed as an article of food, and " Bull Frog " raising 

 is a most profitable industry in several of the States. 

 Hunting for this species is, unfortunately, in consequence 

 carried on to such an extent that its extinction is threatened 

 in some parts of its habitat. 



The TiGRiNE Frog, or Indian Bull Frog, R. tigrina, 

 of India, Ceylon, the Malay Peninsula, and Southern China, 

 does not attain quite so large a size as the preceding species, 

 and specimens of over six inches in length may be con- 

 sidered giants. From the American Bull Frog it may be 

 easily distinguished by its pointed and projecting snout, 

 and by the skin of the back being covered with numerous 



