Structure: No pectoral gland; skin on crown of head thin; tongue, 

 subcircular, slightly emarginate; hand, nearly as long as forearm; 

 toes fully webbed. 



Voice: The chorus is harsh and noisy, a great caterwauling and 

 can be heard a considerable distance. The individual call wow, me ow 

 or a ow — is a most unearthly noise like someone in pain. 



Breeding: The time is from April to August at periods of heavy 

 rainfall. The eggs are in bands 1/4 inch (6 mm.) across or cylindrical 

 masses on plant stems, the jelly rather firm, the eggs close together, 

 black above and creamy white below. The vitellus is 1/18-1/16 inch 

 (1.4-1.6 mm.). In warm spots they hatch in 1 1/2 days. The "bronzy" 

 tadpole is black, dotted with old gold or fawn, small, 1 inch (24.5 

 mm.), broad with tail tip rounded. The tooth ridges are 4/4, rarely 5/4, 

 3/4, 5/5, 2/4. After a tadpole period of 15 to 40 days, they transform 

 during the summer months and early fall at 3/10-1/2 inch (7.5- 

 12.5 mm.). 



Notes: May 29, 1925. Comfort, Texas. The spadefoots are calling 

 as they float spread out on the surface. Their sides are swelled out 

 and vibrating. They often seem to curve their backs in their tre- 

 mendous efforts. 



June 4, 1925. In Comfort, Texas, in roadside pools where, on May 

 29, we found Couch's spadefoot breeding, there are now large tad- 

 poles. The rain came May 28. The eggs must have been laid then. 

 How fast! 



June 8, 1925. Near Dolores, Texas, we stopped beside a long 

 roadside rain pool. It is a sandy area with scattered bushes, very little 

 herbaceous material, and mesquite rather far apart. All stages were 

 here, even tiny transformed ones leaving the pond. They were 

 hopping out so thickly that they formed a seething mass, several 

 spadefoots deep. They were gathered around small herbs, small 

 bushes, and larger ones when possible, for shade, and generally just 

 enough in a place to match the shadow of the plant. Many of them 

 crawl out of the pond when they still have very long tails. I wonder 

 if it hastens the tail shrinking. 



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