242 REPTILES OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



transversely barred ; beneath, granulated, yellowish white, be- 

 coming yellow near the abdomen and upon the legs ; five toes, 

 terminating, like the fingers, in pellets. 



An acrid secretion protects the skin of this species from its 

 enemies. Its principal food is insects. 



H. squirella. Bosc. Tlie little peeping Hyla, 



Ann. Lye. N. Y. vol. i. p. 279. 

 Harlan's Med. and Pliys. Res. p. 107. 

 N. A. Herpet. vol i. p. 105. 



The only specimen I have seen of this species was in a dried 

 state ; its colors were destroyed and its proportions much 

 changed from life. I have therefore no hesitation in copying 

 the description and observations of my friend, Dr. Holbrook, 

 as published in the first volume of his " North American Her- 

 petology ;" 



" Characters. Body olive green above, marked with dark 

 brown blotches irregularly disposed ; a transverse dusky band 

 between the orbits ; whitish beneath and granulated ; head 

 short, with a white line extending along the upper lip to the 

 shoulders. 



Description. The head is short, with a dark band be- 

 tween the orbits, the line from each orbit being directed back- 

 wards so as to meet at an angle ; the snout is obtuse, with an 

 indistinct dark band extending from the nostrils to the eyes, 

 below which is a white line along the margin of the upper 

 lip, reaching to the shoulder ; the loAver jaw is almost white ; 

 the nostrils are placed near the extremity of the snout ; the 

 eyes are prominent ; the pupils black ; the irides golden ; the 

 tympanum is bronzed and surrounded by an indistinct circle of 

 dark brown. The skin is smooth ; the body short and de- 

 pressed while living ; the back is olive green, with irregular 

 blotches of darker olive ; the flanks are gray. The inferior 

 surface of the body is granulated, greenish white in front, with 

 a few dark spots at the throat ; the posterior part of the abdo- 



