I04 Frogs of the Okefinokee Swamp 



till not a spider was left, when back they all hastened to hide till new victims 

 were provided. I turned many into the garden in the hope that I might see 

 some come out this spring. I was, however, disappointed, and it was not 

 until August 24 that by accident I discovered any were alive. On the night of 

 the 22nd, and all next day, heavy rain fell, which washed the poor little 

 fellows out of their homes and revealed their presence to me. 



"Two days after the exodus we visited the same hillside, but with the 

 exception of two or three belated in the pond, not one was visible. We 

 hunted diligently for them, dug in all sorts of places, turned over heaps of 

 stones, but all in vain; yet I do not doubt there were hundreds buried all 

 around us had we only known where. It is evident they go far from their 

 watery home, for they were marching steadily on, the column spreading out 

 about fifty feet wide with none beyond it. Nor do I think they feed during 

 the exodus. I saw an immense number of very small crickets in amongst 

 them, but though I looked carefully I could not see any of the little Spade- 

 foots eating t,hem." 



Fisher (1920, p. 77) had a captive of which he wrote: "While in cap- 

 tivity it was fed mainly upon earthworms. It also ate a grasshopper and a 

 cricket or two. It is remarkable how it would always close its eyes when 

 swallowing, and this seemed to be an important and necessary part of the act. 

 When open, the eyes bulge out prominently, but when closed they are drawn 

 back until they do not bulge at all. When the eyes are thus retracted, the 

 roof of the mouth is lowered and this doubtless helps to force food down the 

 throat in swallowing." 



AUTUMNAL DISAPPEARANCE 



Holbrook (1842, p. 1 1 1) says "I have met them even in very cold weather, 

 with snow on the ground." Col. Pike (1886, p. 215) writes of this species and 

 cold weather as follows: 



"When the cold nights of fail begin, the Spadefoot leaves its summer home 

 and looks out for one more suitable for the winter season. It generally 

 chooses the warm southerly side of a hill, and excavates deeply for its new 

 quarters. It was only after many year's studying of this animal that I was 

 able to verify this fact. 



"About four years ago I found one by accident in winter, over three feet 

 below the surface. On December 27, 1884, I was in Cypress Hills Cemetery 

 when a laborer who was digging a grave called my attention to a toad snugly 

 imbedded in the side of an opening he had just made. His spade had shghtly 

 grazed the body of the animal, which I saw at once was a Spadefoot. I asked 

 him not to disturb it till I had made a careful examination of the burrow. The 

 man had dug down nearly four feet, but the distance the creature had bur- 

 rowed was by exact measurement three feet two inches. 



"The most careful search round the hibernaculum failed to discover any 

 outlet. It had left no trace of burrowing behind it, having evidently covered 

 up all tracks to its lair. The soil was closely packed about it, and the round 

 hole was perfectly smooth, just large enough to contain the body in the 



