dark liver brown to light brown. Beneath, the color is reddish cin- 

 namon, except in the male, which is bright yellow at the throat 

 and groin. The color of a captured specimen usually fades, at least 

 temporarily, to a pale fawn color. 



Size. Adult length, i8 - 33 mm. 



Habitat. Any open pond, water hole or marshy place in the 

 spring; in damp woods and orchards in the summer. 



Breed in ii^ Habits. The eggs are laid singly, often in rows, along 

 the stems of shallow water vegetation in April. They are cream and 

 brown to black. The tadpole hatches in about ten days, and trans- 

 forms during the summer when about 12 mm. long. 



Food. Small insects. Very young mealworms are good for cap- 

 tive specimens. 



The spring peepers are best identified in spring by their shrill 

 call of "pee-eep; pee-eep, pee-eep." The noise is remarkably loud 

 — so loud that if one stands quietly in the middle of a pond until 

 the chorus is resumed, the noise is painfully loud, and the eardrums 

 can be felt vibrating in sympathy with the measured beat. When 

 the call is given the throat of the male is large and translucent. 



This species is shy and hides readily, and careful stalking and a 

 period of silent waiting are necessary before a spring peeper can 

 be caught during the daylight hours. Early in the spring males will 

 continue to sing indoors. 



Common Tree Toad 

 (Hyla versicolor versicolor) 



Appearance. A typical tree toad is frog shaped and pebble sk Mi- 

 ned, has conspicuous adhesive disks on its toes, and blends in color 

 with any background upon which it is found. The blending is so 

 perfect that in order to photograph a tree toad I place him on a 

 background of contrasting color and quickly snap the picture be- 

 fore he can match his surroundings. The ground color on the back 

 may vary from medium brown through green to ash gray. There 

 is a blackish brown, irregular star on the back and green bars 

 edged with black on the tops of the legs and under each eye. Un- 



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