Bufonidae 



chickadee far away among the trees, and the merry tinkle of the 

 boboHnk in the meadow beyond the blue flags. By this time, how- 

 ever, you have probably heard sounds from the pond itself. The 

 explosive note of the Green Frog proceeds from the shallow water; 

 the purring trill of " the Tree Toad " comes from some 'spot im- 

 possible to locate. But listen! The toad's lullaby note ^ comes 

 from the far margin, sweeter than all others if we except the two 

 notes in the chickadee's spring call. We could never have believed 

 it to be the voice of a toad if we had not seen and heard on that 

 first May day. The sustained note is not only high-pitched and 

 tremulous; it seems to have a dual character, 

 as though a low note were droned at the same 

 time that a high one was whistled. Imitate 

 the call by whistling the upper and at the 

 same time humming the lower of the following 

 two notes. ^ The imitation may be good 



m 



^ 



^ 



enough to bring response again and again. 



If we go to a pond at night, we shall have every opportunity 

 both to see and to hear toads, especially if we carry a lantern. 

 Instead of being frightened by the light, they are attracted by 

 it and may gather about it. If the lantern is set on the ground, 

 they sometimes try to climb to its top. An especially enthusi- 

 astic one may sit on the toe of our boot, swell out his throat and 

 sing. Even taking them into our hands will not quell their ar- 

 dour at once. They continue to sing even while we take hold 

 of the distended throat, which is hard from the pressure of the 

 air within. 



If we row on river or lake, pond or park lagoon, some 

 moonlight night late in May, their voices, which seem somewhat 

 woeful in the silence of the night, make a fit accompaniment to 

 the slow dip of oars and the low gurgle of water at the boat's 

 stern. We are reminded that this song has been compared to 

 the slow opening movement of Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata. "^ 

 As late in the season as this there will be heard also an occasional 

 deep bass note from a bullfrog, a loud and somewhat startlingly 

 weird sound of the night, not at all in harmony with the gentle, 

 drowsy song of the toads. 



1 In late May and June we can hear at the ponds of Rhode Island and Massachusetts the call 

 of the Fowler's toad. This call is far more conspicuous and much less musical. (See p. 95.) 

 ^" Familiar Life in Field and Forest." F. S. Matthews. 



66 



