Pomona College, Claremont, California 35 
In addition to the work of Kirkland some other work has been done by Garman* 
on the toad in Illinois and Kentucky, and has had in large part the same results, 
showing that many harmful insects are destroyed. 
The work of Drake*® mentioned above and dealing with the meadow-frog covered 
an examination of 209 stomachs. Mr. Drake says, “All the evidence indicates that 
the presence of substances other than those of an animal nature is merely incidental, 
and due to the mode and conditions of feeding,” and “Nothing can be more natural, 
since the frog captures the greater part of its prey on the ground by means of its 
tongue, than that a small amount of foreign substances should be swept into the 
mouth along with the animals upon which it feeds. The frog’s food consists of 
mollusks, crustaceans, myriapods, spiders and insects; in fact any sort of living 
creature is acceptable to it as both sense of taste and of smell are apparently obtuse.” 
In his work at Saranac Inn in the Adirondacks, which is reported in the “May- 
flies and Midges of New York,” Professor Needham‘ spent some time in a study of 
the summer food of the bullfrog and in his report gives the contents of 16 stomachs. 
Of the 164 animals found 139 were insects, 18 were snails, three crustaceans, three 
spiders and two vertebrates, one bullfrog tadpole, and one meadow mouse. This 
assemblage differs largely from the food of the toad in that many aquatic forms 
are reported, some of which must have been taken under water, for example the 
nymph of the mayfly Siphlurus alternatus Say, which Professor Needham says never 
comes to the surface except for transformation. Other forms were the Rana tadpole, 
Anax nymph, chironomid larye, and a small copepod and some aquatic snails; while 
the water-striders, soldier-Ay larve (Stratiomyide), gnat pupe and transforming 
caddisflies taken were probably secured at the surface of the water. 
The few others who have studied the food of the bullfrog have likewise found 
many vertebrates eaten. Brakeley’ in twelve bullfrogs dissected found one mouse, 
one young bird, one frog, two toads, two carp, six mud-fish, one mud-turtle, besides of 
course, many insects and other invertebrates. Dyche’s report’ in 1914 on the con- 
tents of 30 bullfrog stomachs substantiates previous reports on the greed and rapa- 
ciousness of this species. He found that one specimen thirteen inches long had 
swallowed another about ten inches long and cites many other cases of cannibalism. 
Fourteen of his 30 speciewtontained 32 fish, otherwise the diet was made up largely 
of crayfish, other crustaceans, insects, spiders and snails. 
Brief mention of the feeding habits of the species of Anura is made by Miss 
Dickerson‘ who has evidently based some of her account on personal observation. 
Of especial interest here are remarks on the food of tadpoles. Concerning the tad- 
pole of the toad she says, “These mouths are provided with horny jaws for scraping 
the tiny plants from their supports and for biting off the delicate ends of larger 
plants.’”’ In another connection, “The tadpoles of the wood-frog eat not only the 
green jelly mass from which they themselves hatch, but also the soft green spheres 
within the jelly masses vacated by young salamanders. Like other tadpoles, they 
*Garman, H., 1901. The food of the toad. (Bull. 91, Agric. Exp. Station of Kentucky.) 
*Drake, C. J., 1904. The food of Rana pipiens Shreber. (Ohio Naturalist, 14:257-269.) 
‘Needham, J. G., 1905. The summer food of the bullfrog (Rana catesbeiana Shaw) at 
Saranac Inn. (Bull. 86, New York State Museum.) 
~ *Brakeley, J. H., 1885. Notes on carp and frog-culture. (Bull. U. S. Fish Com., 5:209-213.) 
*Dyche, L. L., 1914. Ponds, pond fish, and pond fish culture. (Bull. No. 1 of Dept. of 
Fish and Game, Kansas.) 
Dickerson, Mary C. The Frog Book. (Doubleday Page and Co.) 
