238 Frogs of the Okefinokee Swamp 



On June 28-29, Mrs. Wright and I heard these Hyla andersonii in the 

 wooded edge of Mr. P. H. Emhe's lake at Lakehurst, N. J. Some of the 

 principal trees and shrubs where the males were numerous were: Magnolia 

 virginiana, Acer ruhrum, Vaccinium corymhosum, Vaccinium atrococcwm, 

 Azalea viscosa, Chamaecy parts thuyoides, Nyssa sylvatica, Ilex glabra, Clethra 

 alnifoliutn, Vihurnum nudum and Rhus vernix. Again on May 23, 1924, 

 we heard a few, though as on the former occasion our attention was mainly 

 directed to Rana virgatipes tadpoles and transformed frogs. 



In June 1928 (i5th-28th) Alexander Barrett Klots and Elsie Brought on 

 Klots made these detailed notes on several frogs found at Weymouth in 

 Atlantic Co., N. J. 



"Many attempts have been made to reproduce the quality of the song 

 in print, with results differing for practically every observer. Thus the call 

 has been variously recorded as "peep," "keck," "quak" (Harper), "quack- 

 ack" hke a frightened guinea fowl, and "quank." To the writer the call 

 seemed a nasal "quack," almost verging on a "quank" but without the strong 

 "n" sound of the latter. The call was never disyllabic. 



"The note is repeated at about half -second intervals for sometimes fully 

 30 seconds. When the frogs are in full song an interval of about two minutes 

 intervenes between outbursts. We had no difficulty in starting the frogs 

 calling again at distances of from fifty to three feet, after they had been silent 

 for a minute of two. One individual was recorded as having called 74 times 

 in one period of song. 



"The frogs definitely associate together for singing, whether because of the 

 presence of females or for companionship. The latter probably plays a con- 

 siderable share in the performance, as is evidenced by the quick response to 

 an imitation of the call. Five such singing groups were definitely located. 

 Of these the first contained seven individuals, the second contained three, 

 the third contained eight, the fourth contained three and the fifth, which was 

 just across an uncrossable creek, contained at least six. Only once was a 

 single individual noted in song alone, and that was a frog which called three 

 times in a spot a half-mile distant from any others and was never heard from 

 again. 



"The locations of the groups were fixed, and during our stay did not change 

 a particle. Night after night a group would be in exactly the same area, 

 though the individuals composing it shifted position a bit. 



"The time of singing was remarkably constant. On every night but one 

 the chorus started between ten and fifteen minutes before sundown. On the 

 one exception, a clear dry night with a bright moon, the first songs were not 

 heard until twenty minutes after sundown. 



"The carrying power of the song was excellent. A chorus was plainly 

 heard as an entity over 800 paces away, with two patches of woods and a 

 brushy swamp intervening. The wind was negligible. Individual voices were 

 distinguishable 754 paces away down a straight road, with a light wind blow- 

 ing from the observers toward the frogs." 



