FIELD NATURALISTS' CLUB. 15 



one overcomes the natural repugnance felt to the ophidia, enough 

 to enable him to examine them coolly, he will find that snakes are 

 not, as many people imagine them, cylindrical in shape. Cross 

 sections of many species will show that they are square, with 

 rounded corners, others triangular, and some oval, but never cylin- 

 drical, a mistake which taxidermists frequently fall into. Further 

 on we met a tremendous toad* in a bamboo clump, he was large 

 enough to cover a soup plate. Toads are, as is well known, useful 

 creatures, destroying many noxious insects but they are a great 

 nuisance if they take up residence in the vicinity of bee-hives, 

 as they will soon considerably lessen the number of bees. It is 

 interesting and curious, however, to any one who can watch their 

 proceedings philosophically and with equanimity for a few mome its, 

 to note the absurd gravity of the culprit as he squats near the 

 entrance to the hive and the stolid air with which he projects 

 his tongue and flicks up with it the bees as they settle 

 before entering it. Every now and then he blinks his 

 brilliant eyes as if he would say "an extra sweat tit-bit.' 

 Why it is the bees do not sting the toad I cannot imagine ; if 

 they do the toad most likely considers it in the light we regard 

 hot sauce and mustard. Even the centipede falls a victim to his 

 voracity, for I recollect seeing once, a toad (not very large) cram- 

 ming into his mouth, with his fore feet, a particularly fine centi- 

 pede. Toads should be encouraged in gardens troubled with 

 parasol ants as they are fond of stationing themselves near the 

 ants' line of march and catching the little creatures as they pass 

 with their leafy burdens. Toads pick up quantities of dirt and 

 stones when catching their food and it would be interesting to 

 learn whether the stones and sand, which thus find their way into 

 their stomachs aid digestion in the manner the pebbles 

 swallowed by fowls do. The sun had come out brightly when we 

 had again reached the road and as we walked along insects flew 

 up from our feet, sometimes two or three at a time, and dis- 

 appeared in the bush. At first sight they looked like flies, but 

 closer examination led us to recognize an old acquaintance of our 

 entomological rambles in Europe, namely the tiger beetle. f These 

 beetles, however, are not so large, or nearly so pretty, as their 

 European cousins, but they are just as fierce. My friend 

 managed to catch one by quickly throwing a handkerchief over 

 him, but his motto was nil desperandum, and he bit right and left 

 with his sickle shaped mandibles, and kicked with might and 

 main with his long slender legs, in his frantic efforts to get away 

 from our grasp. If he was only a little larger, he would indeed 



*Bufo marinus Boulenger. 

 fOdontocheila bipunctata. 



