no. 1G55. NOTE8 (>\ VERTEBRATES FROM INDIANA HAHN. ;,.V.i 



HYLA VERSICOLOR Le Conte. 

 CHAMELEON TREE-FROG. 



Very common, but not often seen. On October 26 two young frogs 

 of this species were found near each other in the woods, where they 

 seemed to be looking for winter quarters. Young were frequently 

 seen during August. 



This tree-frog became active about the same time as the load, the 

 last of April, and its note was frequently heard from then till 

 August 1. Throughout May it gathered in numbers around the 

 ponds every night, and at this season it could be found everywhere 

 in abundance during the evening. It is not easily located by the 

 note alone, as that is somewhat vrentriloquistic and ceases at the 

 slightest alarm and i-- not repeated Tor some time after the disturbance 

 ha- ceased. Prof. ^Y . P. Hay speaks of this note a- a "short, loud, 

 trilled rattle." but this scarcely describes the most common call of 

 this frog, to my mind, as it always seem- to me to he somewhat pro- 

 longed and mourn fid. not unlike that of the toad, but lower pitched 

 and less musical. 



It has, however, another and very different note which I heard it 

 litter on a spring night as I watched it by the light of a lantern 

 sitting at the water's edge. This is short, irregular, and repeated 

 only three or four time- in succession. It may he likened to that of a 

 young chicken calling for its mother, and it also resembles the note 

 of t he -t riped t ree-frog. 



This frog is well protected by its changeable color-, which har- 

 monize well with the hark of tree-, foliage, or -tones on which most 

 of its time i- -pent. But it does not always -elect a place where it 

 will he inconspicuous. On a cloudy morning I saw one sitting for 

 several hours on the Hat top of a gate post, where it> form made it 

 very conspicuous, even at a considerable distance. 



HYLA PICKERINGII (Storer). 

 PICKERING TREE-FROG. 



More abundant, hut also more retiring, than the preceding species, 



except during the breeding season. Its characteristic shrill cry was 

 heard during September ami October, on warm, damp day- in 

 November and December, on .January 5, <'>. 7. and next on March 1. 

 After that it was almost constantly heard till about the end of June. 

 Doctor Hay. quoting from Cope, -ay- that it is heard after "the 

 rattling of Acris gryllus * * * is fairly under way." The note 

 of this frog has. however, been familiar to me in southern Indiana 

 all of my life, and here it invariably begins calling earlier than any 

 other frog. Some years I have noted it in February. 



