Rana aesopus 341 



When we first heard the note (July 17, 192 1) one of the residents thought 

 it a woodpecker but I recorded that it "seemed more hke R. sphenocephala 

 in tone" before I knew its close relationship to this form. At 7:30 a.m., 

 August 18, 1922, several gopher frogs and southern meadow frogs were call- 

 ing. The call of the latter was 3 or 4 rasping croaks, then 3 or 4 clucks, i.e., 

 dissimilar notes. The call of R. sphenocephala is like a rattle compared to the 

 uniform continuous roar of R. aesopus. To Mr. M. D. Pirnie it sounds like a 

 snore, Deckert also (191 4, No. 5, p. 3) states that "Its call is a loud deep 

 snore, ..." In chorus it sounded to Mrs. Wright and myself like the surf 

 or a deep gutteral roar (possibly a trill at times) like rolHng r's down deep in 

 the throat. We also likened it to a snore. The chorus seemed to go in waves 

 and have decided crests. 



Deckert (1920, p. 26) records of a captive specimen that "When the interior 

 of the large glass jar in which it lives is sprinkled, and after this certain noises 



are made, like rusthng paper, or water running from the tap, this frog "sings " 



During the calls, which are repeated about every two seconds and are of from 

 three to five seconds' duration, the vocal vesicles over the arms are distended 

 into hemispheres about the size of large hazelnuts." We doubt whether these 

 gentlemen or any writer who had captive specimens have ever seen them at 

 their maximum. 



MATING 



Male {From life July 20, 1921). Sides of head, dorsum of limbs and sides 

 below costal fold French gray or lilac gray. Fore and hind legs with numerous 

 black bars. These bars broken at times or more or less speckled with French 

 gray. Costal fold from honey yellow to mustard yellow or buff (yellow to 

 greenish yellow depending on the degree of dark specking on it.) Another 

 similar stripe along upper jaw and over the arm insertion. All the tubercles 

 on the back with same color. Iris upper part black then buff yellow or honey 

 yellow over the pupil. Black in front and behind the pupil. Two lilac gray 

 areas beneath pupil separated by black. Between the costal folds about four 

 rows of black spots. Under parts white with hair brown or fuscous or pur- 

 plish black spots on throat and chin. Posterior faces of hind limbs purplish 

 vinaceous. 



Female (From life, July 2, 1922). General color on the sides is French 

 gray, cinereous or pale purplish gray and some pallid purplish gray. These 

 colors become on the lateral fold, canthus rostralis, upper eyelid, beneath eye 

 and fold back of angle of mouth, cream buff or tilleul buff. Ground color of 

 back between lateral folds a combination of lateral fold color and side color. 

 Between the lateral folds are four more or less irregular rows of black roundish 

 spots. Below the lateral fold are 3 such rows to the rictal fold. Ground color 

 of body on dorsum of hind and fore limb with black cross bars. Undersides 

 of feet and hand and femur vinaceous lavender. Spots on the throat bister 

 to snuff brown. Those on sides of belly, army brown. Iris black with promi- 

 nent bar of colonial buff or tilleul buff above the pupil. Below the pupil may 

 be two small bars of body color, namely French gray, cinereous, pale purplish 



