46 



Specimens in the British Museum from Alalahar and the CLokam 

 Patty hills (4,000 feet). A single specimen was captured, under an 

 old rotten log, in dense moist forest, above the Ajencoil pass (Tra- 

 vancore), at about 2,500 feet elevation, by Coknel Beddome, who 

 describes {/.c. Bn/o f /•avail coric us) its colour as '* blackish brown ; the 

 thighs, arms, and legs beautifully marbled with carmine ; the tubercles 

 of the body often tipped with the same colour ; those of the belly often 

 whitish." 



4. BUFO MELAXOSTICTUS [PlATE XII. 1]. 



Bufo melanostictus, Schneid. Hist. Amph. p. 216; Grai-enh, Delic. 

 p. 57 ; Cantor. Cat. Mai. Rept. p. 142 ; Girani. U. S. Expl. Exped. Herp. 

 p. 92, pi. V. figs. 10-14; Gunth. Cat. 1858, p. 61, and Rept. Brit. Lid. 

 p. 422; Steindachn, Novara. Amp>h. p. 42; Stoliczka, Proc. As. Soc. 

 Beng. 1870, p. 155 ; Bkjr. Cat. 1882, p. 306. 



Bufo scaber, Baud. Rain. p. 94, pi. M, fig. 1, and Rept. VIII, 

 p. 194 ; TschudL, Batr. p. 88 ; Dam. Sf Bibr. p. 699 ; Schleg. Ahhild. p. 

 64, pi. 20, fig. 2. 



Bufo bengalensis Baud. Rain. p. 96, pi. 35, fig. 1, and Rept. VIII, 

 p, 197 ; Lesson in Belang. Voy. Lid. Or. Rept. p. 334. 



Bufo isos, Giinth. Gat. 1858, p. 62 ; Lesson, I.e. p. 333, pi. 7 ; Bum. 

 8f Bibr. p. 702. 



Bufo dubia {Shaw) Gray. Lnd. Zool. 



Bufo carinatus, Gray. I.e., 



Bufo gymnauchen, Bleeker, Nat. lijdschr. Nederl. lnd. 1858, XVI, 

 p. 46, 



Phrynoidis melanostictus. Cope. Proc. Ae. PhUad. 1863, p. 357. 



Bufo spinipes {Fitzing) Steindachn. I.e. p. 43, pi. 5, fig. 6. 



Head with more or less elevated bony ridges ; tympanum at least 

 two-thirds the width of the eye ; first finger generally extending beyond 

 second ; toes at least half- webbed ; two moderate metatarsal tubercles. 

 Upper surfaces with more or less prominent, generally spiny warts ; 

 parotoids very prominent, kidney shaped or elliptic, more or less 

 elongate. Colour and markings (of spirit specimens) : yellowish or 

 brownish above, the spines of the warts and the ridges of the head 

 generally black ; beneath immaculate or more or less spotted. 



This species, the commonest toad in Southern India, is, says 

 Giinther {Rept, Brit. Ltd., p. 422),/' one of the most common Batra- 

 ohians of the Indian region, and appears to inhabit every part of the 

 continent and of the Archipelago, from the peninsula of the Southern 

 India to China and the Philippine Islands ; in the Himalayas it ascends 

 to an altitude of 9,000 feet." In Southern India it is found at all 

 levels from the plains up to 7,(>00 feet. It makes a characteristic 

 chirping sound, and sometimes emits a shrill whistle. The length of the 

 full grown animal is subject to great variations, and, whereas a typical 

 specimen in the Madras Museum from Madras measures only 4f inches 

 from the tip of the snout to the tip of the longest toe, a specimen from 

 Cochin measures as much as 5| inches between the same points. 



A specimen of a full grown male in the Madras Museum shows the 

 fore-limb swollen for breeding purposes. The young, which are very 

 abundant in Madras during the November monsoon, go through their 

 tadijole stage in water. 



