370 Frogs of the Okefinokee Swatnp 



lakes of the lagoon type, but once established it would be difficult to collect, 

 except by experienced night hunters. It would be a species very difficult to ship. 

 Although we have shipped them successfully, the frogs need individual care." 



VOICE 



In I go I, Dr. Stejneger remarked that "A few years ago Mr. Robert 

 Ridgway, returning from a collecting trip in Southern Florida assured me 

 that the bullfrog there had such a peculiar voice that he could scarcely believe 

 it to be the same species as the one found elsewhere in the United States." 

 This was the genesis of Dr. Stejneger's interest in this new form. Later Dr. 

 E. A. Mearns sent some from Kissimee, Florida "with the statement that 

 their voice was entirely different from that of northern bullfrogs, resembling 

 the grunt of a herd of pigs." 



In 1906 Miss Dickerson held that "The frog might be unknown now, if it 

 had not been for the persistent reports of its voice. The sounds produced are 

 said to resemble the grunting of a herd of pigs, thus differing entirely from 

 the familiar bass notes of the common bullfrog." 



"Rana grylis Stjr.," Deckert, 1914, writes "is called the 'Pig-frog' owing 

 to its loud grunting call, repeated three of four times. . . . The call is heard 

 at any time, day or night, from deeply wooded bayous, oftenest in March, 

 April and May." "In May 1922 we heard it at Royal Palm Hammock, Dade 

 Co., Florida." 



To Dr. Barbour in 1920 "Its call, which is heard at night, or on damp days, 

 resembles the grunting of a pig, and consists of but one sound oft repeated. 

 Dr. J.C. Bradley in 1919 (June 12) called its note 'some peculiar alligatorlike 

 grunts'. ... Its note is altogether different from that of our northern species." 



In 19 1 8 Viosca held "The voice is entirely different and is much less musi- 

 cal than that of the common bullfrog. The individual call is a series of grunts, 

 usually eight uttered in quick succession. When several are calling, the noise 

 is not unlike that of as many hogs, and 'pig' frog might prove an appropriate 

 popular name." 



In 191 2 we made the following notes on the swamp bullfrog in Okefinokee 

 Swamp. "From June 13- June 19 we heard several of these within the swamp. 

 On June 18, 19 12 at the Still Heronry amongst the swampy tangle of button- 

 bush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) 'hurrah bush' (Leucothoe racemosa) and 

 leather leaf (Clethra alnifoUa) we heard plenty of southern bullfrogs from 8-1 1 

 a. m. The water was waist deep and the bushes 8-12 feet above the water. 

 One of their notes was very much like that of Rana catesbeiana of the north. 

 Another note frequently given in chorus was mournful, reverberating, prolonged 

 and deep, not at all like the regular bullfrog chorus note. There were a number 

 in the chorus and it sounds like one continuous long deep roar. The following 

 day, June 19, from 7:10-11 a. m. when the sun was very hot we heard several 

 in the tree-covered overflowed banks of the Suwannee River. On June 13 

 while travelling through Minne Lake Run we heard the deep, guttural notes 

 of the 'Swamp Bullfrog' all along the bonnet borders and through the cypress 

 woods on either side." 



