250 ANOURA. HYLADyE. 



on each side ; in one genus the first toe is oppo- 

 sible to the others, thus forming a sort of hand. 



The early history of the Tree-frogs does not 

 differ materially from that of their humbler ter- 

 restrial brethren. The eggs are laid in the water, 

 in which the Tadpoles spend their existence ; 

 and in temperate climates the perfect animals 

 resort to the same element to spend the winter 

 in a torpid insensibility. 



The sixty-four species which MM. Dumeril 

 and Bibron enumerate as belonging to this Fa- 

 mily are thus distributed : — one is found in 

 southern Europe ; five are peculiar to Africa ; 

 eight to Asia ; ten to Australasia and the In- 

 dian Archipelago ; and thirty-seven to America. 

 Of three species, the native locality is unre- 

 corded. 



Genus Hyla. (Laur.) 



The extreme elegance and beauty of the Euro- 

 pean Tree-frog {Hyla viridis, Laur.) have made 

 it a general favourite wherever kno\^Ti. It is 

 small and of slender proportions ; the upper 

 parts are of a delicate green, the inferior parts 

 white ; on each side of the body runs down a 

 stripe of yellow bordered with violet or purple, 

 extending along the limbs. It is spread over the 

 whole of southern Europe, extending also into 

 North Africa, but is not a native of Great 

 Britain. During winter it remains torpid at 

 the bottom of ponds, but through the balmy 

 months of summer this beautiful little creature 

 resides in trees, principally resorting to the 

 higher branches, where it leaps to and fro, or 



