402 Frogs of the Okefinokee Swamp 



VOICE 



Garnier (1883, pp. 949, 950) writes ''that (croaking) of the mink frogs 

 is a rapid squeaking croak almost Hke the notes uttered by a toad when seized, 

 with the finger and thumb, by its arm pits. I have since heard the same love 

 cry late in the evening, on the banks of the stream and have well recognized 

 its peculiarly sharp ringing croak." "Occasionally I have heard their notes 

 after they were secured and in my collecting case; but then it seemed truly 

 a note of distress, and was in a different tone and key from that rarely heard 

 on the open stream. . . . There are no 'chant amour' or love notes, in spring" 

 (pp. 947, 948). In 1913 near Dorset, Ontario, "from July 7-14, we heard at 

 night along the shore of Otter Lake the pecuhar note which later proved 

 the croak of the mink frog. On the 15th of July at 10:00 p.m. we heard 

 several frogs and started with flashlight for Peat Lake where the species was 

 in chorus. The air temperature ranged from 52° to 55° F., but the water of 

 Otter Lake at its surface registered 69° F. . . . After July 15th and i6th we 

 heard no more choruses. . . . (This species) has a 'chant amour' which at 

 chorus season can be heard one-third to one-half of a mile away; ..." (Wright 

 1915, Copeia No 23, pp. 46, 47). In Maine, P. H. Pope writes of it as follows: 

 "Through the kindness of Mr. Arthur H. Norton I am permitted to publish 

 the following data collected by him: 



'At Mud Pond, Caswell, they were heard calling, and the same is true of 

 R. clamata. 



'The call of R. septentrionalis was found to be similar in nature to that of 

 R. clamata, but differed strikingly in tone, being higher and slightly metallic, 

 resembhng closely the sound produced by striking a long nail on the head 

 with a hammer in driving it into heavy timber.' " Pope (191 5, No. 16, p. 2). 

 Later Pope in a subsequent note (Copeia, 1918, p. 96) remarks "I also heard 

 the call of these frogs and find that Mr. A. H. Norton's description, quoted 

 in the paper mentioned above, fits it admirably. While keeping some of these 

 frogs in camp in a tin can I heard them give a slightly different call suggesting 

 the bubbling note of Rana pipiens but shriller and not quite so loud." F. 

 Harper (1926, p. 11) writes as follows of these frogs at Clear Lake, Adiron- 

 dacks: "The notes were heard occasionally by day during cloudy weather, 

 but perhaps more frequently by night. There are guttural, vigorous, and 

 rather rapid: Cuck-cuck-cuck-cuck.^^ 



From the previous published data, croaking has been recorded from 

 July 7-August 16. In 1923 some captives we took June 14 later croaked, 

 but we did not hear them in the field. On June 28 at Clear or Hart Lake, 

 Adirondack Lodge, N. Y., Messrs. S. C. Bishop, P. A. Claassen, C. R. Crosby, 

 M. D. Leonard, C. K. Sibley and L. West heard them. On July 7, 1923, 

 Mr. C. W. Leister heard them in the same place and also near Saranac 

 Lake. About the same time Mr. and Mrs. G. B. Upton also heard them at 

 Hart Lake. On July 14 Mr. S. C. Bishop found them in chorus at Hart 

 Lake. At Onekio, N. Y., Hellgate Pond on July 14 I heard many individual 

 croaks in the daytime. 



