Strecker — Notes on the Robber Frog. 77 



Living examples of the above mollusks were found 

 only on the west slope. Altitude about the same as that 

 of the other station. 



Notes ox Breeding Habits. 



This species breeds unusually early in the year. Mar- 

 nock informed Cope 7 that the eggs were hatched in win- 

 ter. Here in central Texas the breeding season is later 

 than it is in Bexar County and the eggs are deposited 

 early in February. If the eggs were deposited before 

 the 9th of that month in the present year, they were sub- 

 jected to some of the hardest freezes we have had in 

 years. On the 9th and 10th the ground was covered with 

 two inches of snow. A few days later the weather was 

 warm and clear and melted snow filled the hollows in 

 many of the gulches that are usually dry at this season. 



On March 5th, a number of tadpoles were found in 

 small pools in the gully three miles north of town. They 

 were in two stages, the larger ones having the hind limbs 

 well developed. In form these larvae were short and 

 round bodied, with slender, but rather short, tails. In a 

 specimen 36 mm. in total length, the distance from muzzle 

 to anus was 14 mm. In a smaller example, the tail was 

 only 4 mm. longer than head and body. 



Color above deep brown, appearing blackish in water. 

 Beneath silvery white. Under a glass the superior sur- 

 faces present a peculiarly mottled appearance, much as 

 though several tints of brown paint had been thrown to- 

 gether without being thoroughly mixed. Sides reticu- 

 lated with blackish brown lines. To the naked eye, the 

 lateral line sense organs appear as continuous yellow 

 stripes on the sides. From above the head presents a 

 much narrower outline than is found in tadpoles of the 

 families Hylidae and Ranidae. The upper lip has two 

 rows of teeth, the lower three. 



These little "polly-wogs" are very active and on being 

 disturbed conceal themselves among leaves in the bottoms 



7 Bull. U.S. Nat. Mus. 17. 1880. 



