230 ANURA CHAP. 



attached to the walls of the bag. None of them had horny jaw- 

 armaments, and not even the smallest specimens showed any traces 

 of sills, resemblincr in this latter character those in the female 

 brood-pouch of Nototrema. The intestine of the tadpoles is short 

 and thick, coiled up spirally and filled with yolk, certainly not 

 with vegetable or other foreign matter. Consequently the entire 

 development from the egg to the complete stump-tailed little 

 creature is undergone within the pouch ; and this, after the young 

 have escaped, probably shrinks back to its original size and acts 

 as a gular vocal sac. 



Phryniscus. — About ten species of this tropical American 

 genus are known ; they extend from Costa Eica to Buenos Aires. 

 They differ not inconsiderably in various details. The tongue is 

 elliptical, entire, and free behind. The palate is smooth. The 

 tympanic disc is absent. Fingers and toes more or less webbed, 

 sometimes with swollen tips, without, however, forming adhesive 

 discs. In a few species the first toe is quite indistinct. The male 

 has a subgular vocal sac. The mouth is small, and there is a 

 short snout. The general appearance varies much. Ph. nigricans 

 of Uruguay, etc., is stout and has very short hind-limbs ; the skin 

 of the upper parts is black, spotted with white, and covered with 

 warts. Most of the other species are slender, with larger hind- 

 limbs and a perfectly smooth skin, the coloration of which ranges 

 from dull uniform brown, or black with crimson markings, to 

 bright green with purple spots. The under parts are, as a rule, 

 conspicuously coloured, a rare feature in Anura, the favourite 

 colours being orange, yellow, or even crimson, with or without 

 black patches. 



Phryniscus nigricans has been observed in Paraguay byBudgett,^ 

 who gives the following account. This is a brilliantly coloured 

 frog of toad-like appearance, and about 33 mm. in length. The 

 ground-colour is black, with yellow spots or patches on the upper 

 parts, the under parts are black, with scarlet blotches, the palms 

 of the hands and soles of the feet are scarlet. At the breeding 

 season both sexes utter a call-note which consists of two clear 

 musical " rings," followed by a long descending " trill," like that 

 of our British Greenfinch. This frog, which at ordinary times is 

 the slowest and boldest of frogs, is now active and excessively 

 shy. Swimming rapidly between the blades of grass, it climbs a 



^ Quart. J. Micr. Sci. xlii. 1899, p. 307. 



