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the cry of a small one, as eagerly as if he heard the shriek of 
a rabbit. 
Blight of all kinds are the food of the frog, the most 
minute winged creatures, as well as those of larger dimensions, 
earth-worms and creeping things innumerable. He does not 
destroy them, as do the warblers and insect-eating birds, before 
our eyes, above and around us, but his usefulness is not the 
less assured. He lurks beneath stones and thick herbage 
where birds cannot go, and there he destroys the fugitives 
who have retired beyond the reach of their feathered enemies 
to sleep during the day in the seclusion of their retreat, perhaps 
-to find a nest for their eggs and provide for the continuance 
of their evil race. The frog is a useful tenant of the fern 
case and hot-bed, and his flesh is edible. But I believe that 
the true edible frog does not inhabit Gloucestershire. This 
latter reptile closely resembles the common frog, which has, 
however, a broad dark streak behind the eye. not found in the 
edible frog. The latter has also an inflatable sac under the 
skin on both sides of the face. 
Frogs’ spawn floats in masses at the surface of the ponds 
in which it is laid. I have seen newts crawl into the masses 
in search of the embryo tadpoles. The frog apparently attains 
maturity when about three years old. Frogs are usually found 
of three sizes, corresponding to three periods of growth. 
The popular idea of frogs or toads remaining for years 
immured in solid blocks of stone was rendered absurd by the 
experiments of the late Dean Buckland. 
With regard to the means of capturing frogs, I may 
mention that I have found a terrier useful for this purpose. 
The dog in question soon learned to seize the frogs by their 
hind feet, as he had observed me take them; and he proved 
himself very useful to me when out “frogging.” 
The common Toad (Bufo vulgaris) lays its eggs in strings 
at the bottoms of pools. These eggs do not float, as do those 
of frogs. Toads and frogs do not drink like other reptiles; 
they neither gulp down water like the tortoise, nor suck it up 
in the manner of a lizard or snake, but they squat in it and 
