Hurter — Herpetology of Missouri. II5 



early in the spring — March 17th. Its cry is one of the 

 earliest of vernal notes. Sometimes it croaks during the 

 warm days of winter. The eggs are laid in masses in 

 shallow water. They may be attached to sticks or free in 

 the water. The whole laying is enveloped in a gelatinous 

 mass about tive inches in diameter and two and one-half 

 inches thick, and may contain from five to six thousand 

 eggs. The eggs are black in color and are so close to- 

 gether that the entire mass is dark, notwithstanding that 

 the gelatinous mass is perfectly transparent. 



29. Eana areolata Baird and Girard. Gopher Frog. 



Rana areolata capita, Rana areolata circulosa. 



Description. — Head large, rather pointed, v/ith a marked concavity 

 between the nostrils and the eyes. Eyes large, prominent. Nostrils- 

 midway between the eye and the tip of the snout. Tympanum oblong, 

 nearly circular, about two-thirds the diameter of the eye. Internay 

 nares large, open transversely, elongate. Vomerine teeth well de- 

 veloped, nearly meeting in the center and situated between the choanae. 

 Tongue large, fleshy, longer than broad, with the cornua small, and 

 wide apart. Body stout. Hind foot appressed to the side, the heel- 

 reaches to the orbit. Fingers not webbed. Toes moderately webbed and 

 well scalloped. The terminal two and a half phalanges of longest toe, 

 however, are almost entirely free. Subarticular tubercles on the fin- 

 gers and toes. No tubercle on the outer edge of sole. The upper sur- 

 face of the back and head is generally smooth; the upper part of the- 

 sides slightly studded with tubercles as also the upper part of the femur 

 and tibia, but not so strongly. The posterior faces of the femur granu- 

 lated. The whole lower side is entirely smooth. A rather broad but 

 low fold of skin can be traced from above the tympanum along the 

 sides of the back nearly to the thighs. A low wide ridge branches off 

 from the dermo-lateral ridge behind the tympanum. Males with a vocal 

 sac on each side. Two glandular ridges, which run together on each 

 end, but are separated about 5 mm. in the middle on the urostyle. 



Color. — The entire upper part and sides of body are covered with a 

 number of brown blotches encircled with light yellow. These blotches 

 are most distinct and crowded anteriorly, and do not invade the outer 

 edge of the dermolateral fold. The spots on the back are generally ar- 

 ranged in longitudinal rows. The ground color of the upper surface 

 of the fore limbs is yellowish brown with vermiculation of darker 

 brown. The hind legs have numerous parallel and transverse dark 

 brown bars, three or four on the thighs, four or five on the tibia, three 

 on the tarsus, and several on the edge of the foot. The bars are 



