TAILLESS BATRACHIANS 227 



time the croaking of the males is very loud and may be 

 heard miles off. The eggs, deposited in deep ponds or 

 pools of clear water, are attached to weeds below the 

 surface in lumps about the size of a walnut, each female 

 producing from 800 to 1,000 eggs. The tadpoles, which 

 grow to a total length of about an inch, metamorphose late 

 in the summer, the young frogs secreting themselves in 

 holes in the banks, in which they spend their first winter. 

 Although a very powerful jumper, owing probably to 

 its protective coloration, the European Tree-Frog makes no 

 attempt to escape when detected ; it does exceedingly well 

 in captivity, feeding on flies and meal- 

 worms, and a case has been recorded of a ^ 1^^^ 

 specimen living for twenty-two years in '}, 



quite a small cage. In Germany the frog is 

 commonly kept as a barometer in cylindrical ' ^i<;-:>'^'' 



glass jars provided with a ladder, which the Fig. 17. Eggs 



frog is supposed to ascend or descend and ^ Common 



, . Tree-Frog. 



thus forecast the weather. In spite of the , ^^ „ , 



A (After tSoulenger.) 



fact that its skin produces a fairly powerful 

 acrid poisonous secretion, even those who have repulsion for 

 other frogs and toads are disposed to make a pet of this species. 

 Gough's Tree-Frog, H. goughi, of Trinidad, one of 

 the smallest members of this genus, attaining a maximum 

 length of just over an inch, was recently described by 

 the writer, who was fortunate enough to possess several 

 specimens, and was thus able to observe the most wonderful 

 and rapid changes which this species undergoes, probably 

 unparalleled by any other batrachian. The same individ- 

 ual may vary dorsally from dark brown, reddish-brown, 

 various shades of yellow, to a very pale greyish-white. 

 When startled the majority became of a bright lemon 



