204 THE LIVING ANIMALS OF THE WORLD 



surface of the body. In this sac the eggs laid b_\- tlie female arc deposited and pass through 

 their tadpole phases. 



The HuKN'ED Frocs, or HuRXEU Toads, of South America constitute a distinct and 

 interesting group. The>- are of large size, stout and rotund, gorgeous!}- apparelled, and 

 truculent in bearing. There are nearly a dozen known species, the distinctive feature from 

 which the\- take their name haxiiig reference to the stiff, Imrn-like de\elopment of their 

 upper eyelids. The largest species is a nati\'e of Brazil, whose body may be as much as 

 S inches long. This species has the horn-like processes of the eyelids most prominently 

 developed. A somewhat smaller but conspicuously handsome s|5ec:es, plentiful in the Argentine 

 Republic, is at the present time represented by several individuals at the Regent's Park Gardens. 

 In this animal the body is relative!)' more obese and toad-like than in the Ihazilian form, 

 but the horn-like angle of the upper ej-elid is only slightlj- produced. The colours \ary 

 somewhat, the general ground-tint of the upper-surface is bronze-green or yellow, upon which 

 are distributed large spots and blotches of dark olive or chocolate, having light yellow or 



golden margins. The spots on the limbs are 

 the widest, and almost take the character of 

 cross-bands. Bright claret-red lines are some- 

 tmies developed in and among the body-spots. 

 A \'ery interesting account of the habits 

 cf this frog appears in Mr. W. H. Hudson's 

 " The Naturalist in La Plata." Mr. Hudson 

 leports it as being common on the pampas 

 ,is far south as the Rio Colorado, in Patagonia. 

 In the breeding-season it congregates in pools, 

 and displays extraordinary \-ocal powers, which 

 m ^^S^K^^if^^,^' '"'c' exercised at night. 'I he notes uttered 



..,»»^ ' '- are long, resembling those of a wind instru- 



ment, and are so powerful that on still e\enings 

 ihcy may be heard elistinctl)' a mile off. After 

 the pairing-season the frogs disperse, and, 

 ictiring to moist places, bury themselves just 

 deep enough to lea\'e their broad green backs 

 I in a le\el with the surface. The eyes, under 

 these ciinditions, look out as from a couple 

 of watch-towers, and are on the (/;// tv'rr foi 

 an\- approaching prey. This consists of any 

 moving creature which they can capture, such 

 as other frogs and toads, birds, and small 

 mammals. In \-er)' wet seasons they will frequent the neighbourhood of houses, and lie in 

 wait tor chickens and ducklings, often capturing and attemjDting to swallow objects much too 

 l.irge for them. In disposition they are excecdingl}' pugnacious, savagely biting at anything 

 that comes near them. When teased, the creature swells itself out to such an e.\tent that one 

 expects to see it burst. It follows its tormentors about with slow, awkward leaps, its vast 

 mouth wide open, .ind uttering an incessant harsh croaking sound. When the)' bite, these 

 frogs hold on with the tenacit)- of a bull-dog, poisoning the blood of the creature seized with 

 their glandular secretion. Mr. Hudson records two instances in which to his knowledge horses 

 were killed through being bitten by a horned frog. One of them, while l)'ing down, had been 

 seized by a fold in the skin near the bell)-; the other had been grasped b\' the nose while 

 cropping grass. In both instances the vicious frog was found dead, with jaws tightly closed, 

 still hanging to the dead horse. " It would seem," Mr. Hudson remarks, " that the\- are 

 sometimes incapable of letting go at will, and, like hone)--bees, destro)- themselves in these 

 savage attacks." 







I 



Phtlo. C».] [fjr,=„-, Or, 



EUROPEAN GREEN TREE-FROG 



InJigenoui to Southern Europe 



