258 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



The bullfrog" {Rana catesbiana) is the largest of North American 

 frogs, reaching a body length of over 8 inches. It has much the same 

 geographical range as the spring frog. The body is very bulky and 

 clumsy, the legs are thick, and the head is broader than in B. clamaia. 

 A fold of skin extends from the eyes over the tymj^anum, around the 

 insertion of forearm, and disappears on the breast. There are no folds 

 on the sides of back, as in U. clamaia and R. virescens. The skin is 

 slightly rough above. The tympanum is larger than eye, with the same 

 sexual differences as in B. clamata. The tibia is slightly shorter than 

 the femur. The hind toes are fully webbed. The complete webbing of 

 the fourth toe, with the absence of dorsal folds of skin, furnishes means 

 of distinguishing this from the spring frog. 



Common Bullfrog (Bana cateshiana). Male. 



The color above is olivaceous, brown, or ferruginous, with darker 

 blotches half the diameter of the eye, more or less uniformly distributed. 

 The color is sometimes yellowish green without blotches or other mark- 

 ings. The hind legs are barred above and the buttocks blotched with 

 nearly black markings. The lower parts are white, with obscure 

 mottlings of brown, the throat sometimes being bright yellow. In the 

 young the blotches above are reduced to distinct black dots, and the 

 under parts are yellowish anteriorly. The habits are much the same as 

 those of B. clamata. Both species pass the first winter in the tadpole 

 stage and are said under unfavorable circumstances to pass even the 

 second winter so. This fact, with the solitary habits of the adult, is of 

 importance to the culturist. 



The Western frogs are not well known. The range of Bana pretiosa 

 is from Montana west to Puget Sound, thence south to southern Cali- 

 fornia. It is the connnou frog of the ^Northwestern States. The body 

 is stout and depressed like B. cateshiana. The head is obtuse, rounded, 

 sub truncate, and broader than long. The eyes are small and the 



