GENERAL LIFE HISTORY OF THE TADPOLES 



29 



rapidly diminishing. On 13 th July, no tadpoles could be found at 

 "West" but some were still present at "Sallow" and "Spawn Site." 

 On 19th and 27th July, only a few tadpoles could be found. By tliis 

 time the water level had sunk again, the spawn site was dry and the 

 water at "West" was confined to a few isolated pools. 



(c) 1949 (Fig. 7). The winter was mild and the rainfall about normal. 



MG 



600 



500 



400 



300 



200 



loa 



10 20 30 10 20 30 9 19 29 9 

 APRIL MAY JUNE JULY 



Fig. 7. Dagger Lane Pond, 1949 



A similar picture to that of 1948, but metamorphosis was earUer. The 



contrast in size between the "West" and the "SaUow" tadpoles on 19th June 



should be noted. These two sites were only about 2 m apart. 



Ponds were generally full. The season opened with exceptionally hot 

 weather and, apart from some rain in May, it was very hot and dry 

 throughout. Except for the winter, therefore, the season resembled 

 1947 rather than 1948. The appearance of the pond and its vegetation 

 also resembled that of 1947. The patches of starwort were there— in 

 fact large areas of the pond were completely covered— the rushes had 



