Scaphiopus holbrookii 85 



the twenty-seventh, when a few were heard after a hard rain. None were 

 heard or seen after that date. A great number of eggs were laid, but no tad- 

 poles survived the frosts. 



"The spadefoot toads suddenly reappeared on the evening of April 12, 



19 13, in several pools near Bay Avenue after a warm, hard rain. They were 

 noisy on the thirteenth, but after that date the weather was cold and only a 

 few were seen until the twenty-third. Then about fifty appeared in the pool 

 which had just refilled on the site of the pool in which they were seen in 191 2. 

 After two or three days all the toads had disappeared. Hosts of tadpoles were 

 hatched but most of them were destroyed on account of their pools being 

 filled in with soil. Those that survived completed their transformation into 

 fully formed toads by the middle of June. 



"A few spadefoot toads appeared in a small permanent pool near the Bay 

 Avenue school on April 27 and 28, 1914, and laid considerable amount of 

 spawn. There was a prolonged rain on May fourth and fifth and on the 

 evening of the fifth great numbers of the toads appeared in the pool. About 

 one hundred pairs were mated in the pool all through the following day, and 

 their method of laying eggs was readily observed. The chorus of unmated 

 males was loud on the evening of the sixth, but not one of the toads could be 

 found on the seventh, although the temperature continued warm. On July 7, 



1 9 14, numbers of spadefoot toads appeared on the salt marshes adjoining the 

 shore at Bay avenue, Patchogue, after a week of rainy days. They sang in a 

 loud chorus and many were mated. None could be found on the next day." 

 "The tadpoles of spadefoot toads have been found in Oakdale and Speonk. 

 The toads are widely distributed, and their times of appearance are as regular 

 as those of other toads. They escape observation on account of their burrow- 

 ing habits, and their short stay in the breeding pools. I made sure of finding 

 them by hiring a small boy to visit the locality every evening." In many 

 respects the author agrees with the last paragraph from observations made 

 on Scaphiopus couchi and Scaphiopus hammondii. It is an interesting fact 

 that Prof. R. J. Gilmore of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo., 

 regularly and yearly uses Scaphiopus for his class use in biological courses 

 instead of Bufo or Rana species. 



After the pubhcation of his Long Island Frogs and Toads, Overton, 191 5, 

 pp. 17, 52, 53, followed the yearly appearance of spade-foots with two notes in 

 Copeia. They are: "vSpadefoot toads {Scaphiopus holbrookii) appeared in 

 Patchogue on the evening of May 22, 1915, for at least the fourth successive 

 year. The first hard rain of spring occurred on the night of May 21, and on 

 the evening of May 22, great numbers of toads were present in the same pool 

 in which they had been seen in previous years. On the morning of the 23rd 

 nearly every blade of grass in the pool was covered with their eggs, and by 

 night not a toad remained in sight. The sudden emergence of the toads from 

 their underground retreats and their extremely short stay in breeding pools, 

 probably accounts for the former belief that years usually elapse between 

 their appearances." 



