234 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



of the water. The outer envelope, which in toads forms 

 a tube protecting the eggs, is absent. The number of ova 

 in a brood varies in number from i,ooo to 1,500. 



In Pelobates, represented by three species, two from 

 Europe, and one from Asia Minor and Syria, the toes are 

 extensively webbed. The tubercle at the base of the 

 first toe is hard and shovel-shaped. 



The Common Spade-Foot, P. fuscus^ a thoroughly 

 burrowing creature, spending most of its existence many 

 feet underground, inhabits various parts of Northern, 

 Eastern, and Central Europe, in districts where the soil is 

 loose and sandy. The head is very broad ; the eyes large 

 and prominent ; the hind limbs are short and very robust, 

 with swollen calves. The skin is smooth on the head and 

 limbs, usually covered with a few small fat warts of un- 

 equal size on the back. The coloration varies greatly. 

 The ground colour may be olive, pale or dark brown, 

 yellow or yellowish-white ; dark brown or reddish spots, 

 which sometimes are confluent into a pair of longitudinal 

 bands, are usually present. 



In the summer months this creature may often be met 

 with at dusk in suitable locahties, hopping about Hke a 

 frog. When suddenly seized it produces a dermal exuda- 

 tion smelling exactly like garlic. Some specimens, when 

 teased, will jump about open-mouthed, snapping at their 

 persecutor, and, with their body swollen like a balloon, 

 will utter loud, shrill cries which can only be compared to 

 those of an infant. 



The eggs, deposited round the weeds of small ponds, 

 are expelled in a thick band. The breeding season 

 commences towards the middle of March, and lasts until 

 the end of May. The tadpole, which grows to a very large 



