June] RITCHIE— ON THE TOAD. 177 



skin, another through the walls of the stomach, and the poor 

 creature's breakfast was exposed. 



I was a little disappointed at first, as one or two common forms 

 of beetles presented themselves, that might have been obtained 

 without sacrificing the poor animal; still, I reasoned as he had 

 been up nearly, or perhaps all night, collecting, and I had not, he 

 must have taken some species not in my collection. Having 

 scraped the contents of his stomach into my bottle of spirits, I 

 started home, resolved to see what the insects were before 

 breakfast. 



I spread them out on a sheet of blotting-paper and counted 

 them, the result being as follows, naming them for the benefit of 

 my entomological friends, who have not made use of the toad as a 

 collector of insects : — 



There were thirteen perfect specimens, viz., — 



No. of Specimens. 



Cymindis pilosa, rare, ..... one. 



Platynus cupripennis, common, . . . two. 



Bembidium quadrimaculatum, uncommon, . one. 



Cercyon, undetermined, .... three. 



Tachyporus jocosus, common, . . . one. 



Paederus littorarius, rare, .... one. 



Ips faciatus, common, ..... three. 



Ips sanguinolentus, common, . . . one. 



Besides these, there were one elytron each of Hippodamia and of 

 Brachycantha ; also vestiges of legs and wings of other insects. 



I have killed several toads since, with similar results ; one, I 

 may mention, had the stomach filled with a species of Chrysome- 

 lidcB, Dorijphora trimaculata, amounting to eleven specimens. 

 He had evidently come across a colony of that insect, and made 

 a hearty breakfast. I may state that this insect was in great 

 abundance, during 1864, on the Island of Montreal. The same 

 may be said of last summer, 1868; taking them by the score on 

 the Mountain, also along the river at Hochelaga. 



The earlier you go out in the morning the better; before sun- 

 rise, if possible, ere the process of digestion has gone too far. 



Birds are also very useful as collectors of insects, as may be 

 seen by the following from one of the daily papers, being only one 

 of many thousand examples : — 



Birds thb Paemkr's Friends — An intelligent farmer boy in Illinois 

 observed a small flock of quails, commencing at one side of a cornfield, 



