MARHit^EK. —Australian Frog in Neiu Zealand. 145 



peculiar whistle, which, when a large number joined in chorus, 

 could be heard for some distance. 



This at once aroused my interest, and through the kindness 

 of Mr. H. West, Greyniouth, I received five live specimens on 

 the 3rd February, 1906. 



On inspection I found that they were small frogs from 1^ in. 

 to 1|^ in. in length, and of a brown colour ; and in order to get 

 them properly named I forwarded two live ones to Mr. J. J. 

 Fletcher, of Sydney, who has done much work on Australian 

 frogs. 



He described it as Hyla ewingii, D. and B., var. calliscelis, 

 and stated that it was included in the British Museum Catalogue 

 of Batrachia (1882), page 406 ; he also informed me that it is 

 one of the commonest frogs of eastern Australia and Tasmania. 



On the 1st March I received about forty more from Mr. H. 

 West, and so had a good opportunity of noticing any variation 

 that might occur between different individuals. When exposed 

 to light they are of a light-brown or even a very pale brown 

 colour ; there is usually a broad dark band running down the 

 middle of the back, with two lighter broad bands on each side. 

 The under-surface is lighter, and on the ventral surface of the 

 thighs there is a yellow -streak. When buried in the earth, or 

 not exposed to a bright light, they go to dark reddish-brown 

 colour— almost to a dark chocolate ; and if one is buried with 

 only a part of its body exposed to bright light, the buried por- 

 tion turns a dark reddish-brown colour, and the exposed por- 

 tion, no matter how small it may be, keeps its very light colour, 

 the line of demarcation being very definite. 



In the specimens that I received the male seems to be about 

 I in. smaller than the female, but otherwise they seem to be the 

 same externally. The average size of my specimens was about 

 1| in., but one specimen was about 2 in. in length. The head 

 is large, eyes prominent, and snout short ; hind feet are webbed, 

 but fore feet are not so ; all the digits have suckers at their tips. 



The frogs in my case seem to be more strictly nocturnal than 

 Hyla aurea, for they seldom come out in the daytime, except in 

 wet weather. I kept a large number among some grass in a 

 bell jar for some days ; at night-time they could be seen climb- 

 ing all over the sides of the jar, but in the daytime they were 

 almost all invisible. Since then I have kept them in a glass 

 aquarium, with a dish of water and turf, but I seldom see them 

 out in the daytime. Mr. H. West tells me that they are best 

 caught at dusk or later, when they crawl over the grass, &c., 

 and can be located by their peculiar cry, which somewhat re- 

 sembles a whistle when compared with the hoarse croak of 

 Hyla aurea. 



