266 GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF AUSTRALIAN BATRACHIA, 



been very much lighter in colour than others ; one could truth- 

 fully have called them yellow. They hop along with short quick 

 strokes ; and if teased or interfered with will stand up with bodies 

 above the ground on all fours, and puffing themselves out to an 

 absurd size will face their tormentor in a defiant manner." 



" I can verify the statement of your correspondent that Notaden 

 is partial to ants, for I have repeatedly unearthed them, and fed 

 them upon the wood-destroying white ants, which they ate in 

 large quantities refusing however any that were dead. I also 

 tried them with the carrion ants, giving them eggs, pupae, workers, 

 and winged ones. The last- mentioned were soon disposed of, the 

 eggs and pupse taken into the mouth and ejected, but the workers 

 they refused to touch. I tried them with other food such as 

 insects, grubs, &c, but did not observe them to eat any. Perhaps 

 their partiality for white ants explains their being frequently 

 plentiful about homesteads, deserted yards, and buildings." 



As further confirmation of the fact that Notaden preys upon 

 ants, I may say that the bottle in which eleven living specimens 

 were forwarded to me from Trangie, as noted below, by the Rev. 

 J. M. Curran, F.Gr.S., contained on opening a noticeable quantity 

 of undigested fragments of ants voided by the toads while in 

 transit. 



Mr. Curran has also very kindly furnished me with the 

 following observations : — " On two occasions recently I have 

 noticed large numbers of 'Hervy's frog' (Notaden bennettii) on the 

 Macquarie River, about four miles down stream from the locality 

 known as the Macquarie Cataract. On each occasion there had 

 been recent rather heavy rains. Before the rain no frogs were 

 visible, but after a downpour of five hours the frogs appeared in 

 thousands. On Monday, January 26th, 1891, I rode from the 

 Macquarie to the Ewenmar Creek, and for some twelve miles of 

 well-grassed country a dozen specimens could have been easily 

 collected at any one place over the whole distance. Tuesday was 

 fine, and on the return journey I did not see a single specimen. 

 I noticed the same frogs plentiful in November, 1890, about 



