712 AMPHIBIA—RANID&. 
they leave the water andjwander to some distance. They are among the 
earliest to awaken from their winter sleep, having been observed in 
March and April. 
*RANA CATESBYANA Shaw. 
Bull Frog. 
Rana catesbyana, SHAW, ALLEN, CoPpE, JORDAN. 
Rana mugiens, MERREM, WAGLER, TsSCHUDI, DUMERIL and BIBRON, GUNTHER. 
Rana pipiens, HALLOWELL, HOLBROOK, KIRTLAND, STORER, DEKay. 
Rana pipiens, et scapularis, HARLAN. 
Color above greenish-brown, with darker irregular spots, 
these blotches more conspicuous upon the legs and sides ; under 
parts yellowish white, often mottled with black or brown; legs 
above of the same color as the body, but the darker blotches 
often assume the form of transverse bars; femur shorter than 
the tibia; tubercles at some of the joints of the fingers and toes ; 
tympanum in aduli large, eight to twelve millimeters in diame- 
ter; nostrils half way between the eye and muzzle; pupils 
black; irides green; vomerine teeth in two nearly circular 
patches between the inner nares, the latter large and more 
widely separated than the outer. Length, 74 inches; head to 
axilla, 24 inches; hind leg 94 inches; fore leg, 4 inches; 
transverse diameter of head, 24 inches; vertical diameter of 
Fic. 3.—Ranacatesbyana, head, 1} inches; transverse diameter of body, 3 inches, 
month open, showings Habitat, Canada, Maine, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsyl- 
inner nares, teeth, and vania, Delaware, North Carolina, Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, 
tongue. Kansas, Ohio, Michigan. 
The Bull Frog, called also by the boys Cow Frog, is very common, not 
only in the State, but,also throughout its whole range. Its hoarse voice, 
low bass.notes, supposed by some to be its love songs or call of the male 
to the female,fhavefbeen compared to the roaring of a bull, hence the 
common name. They are aquatic animals, being found in ponds, 
ditches, and pools, cecasionally coming to land, but only passing to any 
distance from the water in wet weather and at night. 
Prof. Rogers states that ‘the frog is very susceptible to the entice- 
ments of motion.” He has often caught them at the South by “ agitating 
a hook and line baited with red tape,” at which they would bite and 
entangle their teeth. Dr. Corse states that he has observed the spawn 
of frogs to develop on the fourth day, and has also known Rana 
catesbyana to pass a whole year in the tadpole State. 
The Bull Frog is the one more commonly eaten, though any of them 
nee 
*For anatomy of nervous system see Smithsonian Contributions, vol. 5, 
