AMPHIBIANS 



Between long silences it utters its single "wheep," high and 

 sudden, like an exclamation. 



This toad has a thick-set, chunky body and is short-legged 

 and broad-toed ; its skin is conspicuously warty and the head- 



FiG. 297. — American toad, Biifo americanns. 



crests are wide and kidney-shaped (Fig. 297). In some 

 localities it is confused with Fowler's toad, which is more 

 slenderly built and has a smoother skin, especially on the 

 under parts (Fig. 298). In a few localities as on Long Island, 

 New York, Fowler's toad takes the place of the American 

 toad. The color of the American toad varies from light to 

 darker brown according to its own temperature and activity. 

 It is usually predominantly red-brown with patches and bands 

 of lighter brown; the warts and parotid glands are likely to 

 be a rich red-brown. The male is smaller. than the female 

 and her throat is grayish white while his is nearly black. 



Breeding habits. — In early April, American toads come 

 out of their winter burrows, beneath flat stones or logs, and 

 begin their evening migrations to the ponds. By the middle 

 of that month numbers of them appear in the ponds, and their 

 sweet, tremulous calls sound forth uncertainly here and there. 

 The full toad chorus does not begin till the last week in April 

 or the first in May, and then it goes on in daytime or evening, 



369 



