Scaphiopus holhrookii 93 



Pike (1886, p. 220) writes: "In the pond where I found them in 1884 there 

 was abundant water in 1885, fed by springs, and to my eye the same condi- 

 tions obtained this year. It is evident Spadefoot thought differently, and 

 resorted to a pool a quarter of a mile away, for some reasons unknown to me. 

 I believe they breed ewery year, but change their locahty, as the winters, 

 though often severe on Long Island, certainly do not diminish the numbers 

 of the Scaphiopus.'^ 



In Raleigh, North Carolina, Brimley (1896, p. 59) recorded "Last May I 

 collected fifty breeding in a pool only a few yards from my house." In Florida, 

 T. VanHyning (1923, p. 68) writes: "On the night of March 18, while some 

 of the boys of the biological class of the University of Florida, Gainesville, 

 Florida, were collecting frogs, among other species taken were thirty specimens 

 of the Florida Tree Frog, Hyla gratiosa LeConte ; eight specimens of the Goph- 

 er-Frog, Rana aesopus (Cope), and two of the Spadefoot Toad Scaphiopus 

 holhrookii (Harlan). 



"These and other species were all in a pond breeding near the University. 

 One of the party collected eggs, and brought living specimens which have 

 spawned since . . . ." 



The summation of 23 congresses from 1910 to 1922 give two for March, 

 four for April, five for May, three for June, three for July, three for August 

 and two for September, or eleven for the spring months, nine for the summer 

 months, and three for September, the modal month being May. The two 

 March records are: the first for South Carolina and Georgia; and the second 

 for Florida. 



Our only record of ovulation observed is for August 16, 17, 1928. 



Temperature and humidity. On August 16 and 17, 1928, when we found 

 the spadefoot congress we had no thermometers with us. We record that the 

 water must have been 75° to 80° when the rain was on and much higher when 

 the sun came out. The rain was so heavy that many cars were stuck on the 

 detour ahead of us and streams were flowing over the wooded bridges. 



For five stations around the swamp for the two days, August 16 and 17, 

 the air minima ranged from 69°-74°, with an average of 71° and the maxima 

 ranged from 82°-9i°, with average of 87°. These stations average .70 inches 

 of rain, e. g.. Glen St. Mary, Florida, had 1.80 inches August 16 and a trace 

 the next day; Waycross had .69 inches August 16 and .55 inches August 17. 

 But Hilliard where we were had .56 inches August 16 and 3.47 inches August 

 17 or 4.03 inches when the congress was in progress. 



Egg-laying process. Overton (19 14, p. 29) describes it thus: "The only 

 time when spadefoot toads are not shy is while they are actually laying thier 

 eggs. A pair of toads about to deposit a mass of eggs will cling to a stiff spear 

 of grass about a foot beneath the surface of the water and will slowly crawl up 

 the stem, depositing a string of about two hundred eggs enclosed in a gelatin- 

 ous envelope about as large around as the toad's leg. Each batch will be laid 

 within five minutes, and during that time the pair may be approached readily. 

 A toad will lay its eggs at intervals within a very few hours, and will then 

 disappear from the pool." Deckert's drawing (Fig. i, p. 39), May 12, 1914, 



