MAB.Ri'S'En. —Australian Frog in New Zealand. 149 



f^reat numbers in and about the spot where they were originally 

 liberated. The main facts of this account I have also received 

 from several other Greymouth correspondents. 



These frogs cannot, as some have thought, be the ones libe- 

 rated by the Agricultural Department in 1898, because they 

 were never liberated on the west coast of the South Island at 

 all ; besides, the two could never have been confused, owing 

 to the difference in size, colour, and general appearance. 



Several of my correspondents have known Ht/la ewinqii 

 around Greymouth for twenty or even thirty years. Mr. H. 

 West has written to say that he remembers them twenty years, 

 and Mr. West, sen., for about thirty years. 



The presence of this frog in Westland in 1875 may some- 

 what explain a mystery which has never been cleared up : In 

 1875, before the Westland Institute, Mr. F. E. Clarke read 

 a paper on " Notice of a Tadpole fovmd in a Drain at Hokitiki." 

 He explained that he had found one in a drain which was being 

 cleaned out by some labourers. After discussing the amphibian 

 he writes, " No frogs or frogs' spawn having been introduced 

 nearer to the west coast of New Zealand than Nelson and Christ- 

 church, it is puzzling to conjecture in what manner the little 

 stranger arrived in a territory having a climate so thoroughly 

 congenial to its kith and kin." 



Mr. Clarke was evidently unaware that about three years 

 before he wrote his paper Hijla ewingii had been introduced 

 into Greymouth, and they could easily have been brought 

 from Greymouth as adults by some unknown person, or else 

 perhaps the spawn was carried across the intervening twenty- 

 four miles by some water-fowl. At any rate, there is not so 

 much of a mystery about the occurrence, when frogs were not 

 more than twenty-four miles away, as it would have been when 

 they were no nearer than Nelson, about a hundred and fifty 

 miles as a crow flies. 



As this frog can climb well, I think it would be worth while 

 introducing it into Canterbury and other parts of New Zealand 

 in order to deal more effectively with the insect pests, as the 

 common green frog is unable to reach insects that do not come 

 near the ground. Already several of my specimens of Hyla 

 ewingii have liberated themselves, and if not destroyed by 

 birds might establish themselves around Christchurch. 



In closing I should like to express my thanks to all those 

 who have supplied me with information, and especially to Mr. 

 H. West for the trouble he has taken in procuring live specimens 

 for me. 



