The Tkee-Frog. 49 



It is deep velvety black, with a curved band of spots of a 

 brilliant metallic-green color extending across the wings from 

 tip to tip, each spot being shaped exactly like a small tri- 

 angular feather, and having very much the effect of a row of 

 the wing coverts of the Mexican trogon laid upon black vel- 

 vet. The only other marks are a broad neck-collar of vivid 

 crimson, and a few delicate white touches on the outer mar- 

 gins of the hind wings. This species, which was then quite 

 new, and which I named after Sir James Brooke, was very 

 rare. It was seen occasionally flying swiftly in the clearings, 

 and now and then settling for an instant at puddles and mud- 

 dy places, so that I only succeeded in capturing two or three 

 specimens. In some other parts of the country I was assured 

 it was abundant, and a good many specimens have been sent 

 to England ; but as yet all have been males, and we are quite 

 unable to conjecture what the female may be like, owing to 

 the extreme isolation of the species, and its want of close af- 

 finity to any other known insect. 



One of the most curious and interesting reptiles which I 

 met with in Borneo was a large tree-frog, which was brought 

 me by one of the Chinese workmen. He assured me that he 

 had seen it come down, in a slanting direction, from a high 

 tree, as if it flew. On examining it, I found the toes very 

 long, and fully webbed to their very extremity, so that when 

 expanded they offered a surface much larger than the body. 

 The fore legs were also bordered by a membrane, and the 

 body was capable of considerable inflation. The back and 

 limbs were of a very deep shining green color, the under sur- 

 face and the inner toes yellow, while the webs were black, 

 rayed with yellow. The body was about four inches long, 

 while the webs of each hind foot, when fully expanded, cov- 

 ered a surface of four square inches, and the webs of all the 

 feet together about twelve square inches. As the extremities 

 of the toes have dilated discs for adhesion, showing the creat- 

 ure to be a true tree-frog, it is difiicult to imagine that this 

 immense membrane of the toes can be for the purpose of 

 swimming only, and the account of the Chinaman that it flew 

 down from the tree becomes more credible. This is, I believe, 

 the first instance known of a " flying frog," and it is very in- 

 teresting to Darwinians, as showing that the variability of 



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