AMPHIBIANS 



Habits, habitat. — Except during the breeding season wood 

 frogs wander far away from the water, foraging among the 

 mosses and fallen leaves of damp woods with which their 

 colors blend well enough to hide them. They hibernate be- 

 neath leaves, in stumps, or under logs far away from ponds. 



Breeding habits. — Wood frogs come out of hibernation 

 early, usually by late March. They closely follow the 

 spring peeper and arrive suddenly in the woodland pools, 

 generally announcing themselves by a chorus of explosive 

 clucks. There is a protected leaf-strewn forest pond on 

 Mount Tom, in Massachusetts, to which they come earlier 

 than spring peepers do to the ponds of the lower levels. A 

 great company of them remain in the water from one to three 

 weeks; after that only a stray lingerer may now and then be 

 found. During their sojourn in the ponds they sing during 

 the daytime, and at night, too, if it is warm enough. Even 

 in the breeding season wood frogs are shy and their clucking 

 chorus usually ceases as one approaches their pond. 



When croaking, the male wood frog sprawls in shallow 

 water with his head above the surface, or swims about during 

 the performance. Mating pairs are easily captured with a 

 water-net, and the females will lay their eggs in captivity. 

 Their rounded egg masses are attached to submerged sticks 

 and to branches which dip into the water (PI. ^X). Two or 

 three masses of wood frog eggs and one or two clusters of 

 spotted salamander eggs (PI. XX) may be attached to the 

 same twig. 



Life history. — In New England the tadpoles transform 

 through midsummer, the first ones being out of the water by 

 the middle of July. 



Size. — The body of the male is 2 inches long ; the female is 

 3 inches. 



Range. — Common in the east ; eastern North America from 

 the Atlantic to the Mississippi River, southward to South 

 Carolina, northward to Quebec. 



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