AMPHIBIA 



271 



pouch. In another type {Hyla goeldii) the female carries the eggs 

 in a depression on the back. 



The true frogs, Ranidae, are represented by only one genus {Rana) 

 in North America. The bull frog {Rana catesbiana — Figure 146) 

 is the largest North American species and one of the largest of the 

 genus. It reaches a length of from five to eight inches. The color 

 of the upper surface is green or olive brown, marked with dark 

 spots. Bullfrogs seldom go far from the water. They feed on other 

 species of Rana, and even eat ducks and chickens if small. The 



Fig. 145. Toad. (Photo by Newton Miller.) 



writer has found in the stomach of a single large specimen two full- 

 grown leopard frogs, packed as neatly as one places shoes in a box. 

 ^\\& green frog {Rana cla?nitans) (Figure 147) has a greenish color and 

 is marked by small irregular black spots. Its length is three inches. 

 It lives in or near the water. The -wood frog {Rana sylvatica) is found 

 in damp beech woods often far from water. 



The leopard frog (Rana pipiens), formerly called Rana virescens, 

 is the most common of all the North American species of Rana. 

 Its greenish ground color is marked by large black blotches, edged 

 with whitish, The legs are crossed above with black bars. There 

 are two irregular rows of black spots down the back and the lower 

 side of the pale body. The legs are very long. 



The pickerel frog {Rana palustris) resembles the preceding species. 



