836 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



vember, 1904, was probably the last of the 

 thousands shipped to Europe from America. 



If our birds survive until the return of warm 

 weather, they will be placed in an aviary suit- 

 able for breeding, and offered every inducement 

 to undertake the task of reiaroduetion, but ex- 

 treme old age is strongly against the chances 

 for thus increasing the numbers of this van- 

 ishing race. 



AQUATIC TOADS. 



WE are exliibiting two species of Batrach- 

 ians, representing the Old and the New 

 World forms of the toads or frogs that 

 are strictly aquatic, quite unable to move about 

 when out of the water. The fish-like motions 

 of these exceedingly droll creatures are of par- 

 ticular interest to visitors. 



The two species exhibited are popularly 

 known as the Smooth-clawed Frog and the Suri- 

 nam Toad. The former, technically known as 

 Xenopus laevis, inhabits Africa, from the Cape 

 to Abyssinia. It receives its common name 

 from the very apparent sharp black claws. The 

 hind feet are enormously developed and very 

 generously webbed, and with them the creature 

 swims with the ease of a fish, resorting to slow 

 twists and turns, or darting into a dark corner if 

 frightened. The eyes are minute and placed 

 upon the top of the head. The tadpole of this 

 curious creature has two very long tentacles 

 protruding from the snout. 



The most remarkable habit of the Smooth- 

 clawed Frog appears to be its ability to utter 

 a metallic call while under water. We have 

 noted our specimens going through this perform- 

 ance and making enough noise to be heard a 

 distance of thirty to forty feet. This was tak- 

 ing place while they were at the bottom of their 

 tank — under two feet of water. They appear 

 to be hardy, and greedily devour earth worms 

 or small fragments of raw beef. Their breath- 

 ing habits differ from those of the Surinam 

 Toad, as the eggs are apparently attached to 

 water plants, and contain when deposited well- 

 formed embryos. The tadpoles hatch within a 

 period of forty-eight liours. Transformation 

 into the adult form is rapid. 



Our other aquatic toad, the familiar Pipa 

 americana, is the famous Surinam Toad, coming 

 chieflv from the Guianas. It is seldom exhibited 

 as a living captive, and thus forms one of the 

 strangest features of our collection in the Rep- 

 tile House. The general form is very peculiar. 

 The entire creature is much flattened, and the 

 head is triangular. The eyes are reduced to 

 mere pin-points, and the skin forms a number 



of short, irregular serrations on the upper lids, 

 in front of the eye and at the angle of the mouth. 

 The fingers are very slender, and end in star- 

 shaped tips. As with the Old-World species, 

 the rear appendages are greatly developed and 

 extensively webbed. Remarkable in the life 

 historj"^ of these batrachians is the structure of 

 the skin on the back of the female, which as- 

 sumes a pitted growth, for the reception of the 

 eggs which are placed there by the male. In 

 these epidermal craters the young undergo their 

 entire metamorphosis. 



Surinam Toads are best collected at the end 

 of the long dry period, when they are confined 

 to the partially dried-up pools. In such condi- 

 tions they never breed. Breeding takes place 

 at the time of the great freshets. The male ar- 

 ranges the eggs on the back of the female toad, 

 in cavities which appear to be pouches of the 

 skin. A rapid structural change appears to 

 take place in the epidermis, in the course of 

 which there exudes from such egg-pit what ap- 

 pears like a lid, similar to the structure at the 

 mouth of the tunnel of a Trap-door Spider. 

 The entire transformation from the egg to the 

 small perfect toad is rapid. After the young 

 have escaped from the back of their mother, her 

 skin soon resumes its normal appearance. 



While our aquatic toads from Africa feed vo- 

 raciously upon any animal matter that may be 

 placed in their tank, it is more difficult to induce 

 the Surinam Toad to feed. We have observed 

 that our specimens are uniformly fond of small, 

 living fishes, and that they prefer to feed at 

 night. R. L. D. 



RECENT ARRIVALS. 



MdniiiKiIx. — Gorilla; Chimpanzee; Black Howler 

 Monkey; Red Howler Monkey; 2 Spot-nosed Mon- 

 keys; .5 Bearded Monkeys; Diana Monkey; Campbell 

 Monkey; 3 Moustache Monkeys; Chacma Baboon; .3 

 Kast African Baboons; Poto; 3 Mouse Lemurs. 



2 I Aon Cubs; Adult Leopard; 3 Leopard Cubs; 3 

 .Snow Leopards; Ocelot; Margay Cat; Andes Black 

 Bear; Spotted Hyena; Hunting Dog. 



Prong-Horned Antelope; Blessbok; Prjevalsky 

 Wild Horse (born); Eld Deer (born); Axis Deer 

 (born); 3 Mule Deer. 



5 Rock Squirrels; Big-eared Rat. 



Birds. — 3 Black Spur-wing Geese*; 3 Carolina Par- 

 rakeets*; Senegal Parrot; 3 Yucatan Jays*; 14 Les- 

 son Euphonias*; 4 Black-throated Crested Quail*; 6 

 Black-breasted Bob-white; 3 Black Storks; 3 Red 

 Lories*; 2 Eastern Pratincoles*; 4 Hey Rock Par- 

 tridges; 3 Giant Kingfishers; 3 Australian Sheldrakes; 

 3 Red-billed Hornbills* ; Yellow-breasted Weaver* ; 

 Whippoorwill*; South American Turkey Vulture*; 2 

 Orange-headed Vultures*; Canvas-back Duck; Siber- 

 ian Rubv-throated Robin*; 5 Baldpate Ducks; Cuban 

 Cuckoo* ; Cuban Flicker* ; 3 Eye-browed Woodpeck- 

 ers"; 6 Cuban Green Woodpeckers*; 3 Cuban Banded 

 Woodpeckers*; 3 Cuban Trogons; 3 Duck Hawks; 2 



