RANINAE 269 



for the concert, which takes place in the water, beginning at 

 sunset, and continuing until the early dawn. A few individuals 

 here and there utter a single note, " gwarr, 00-arr," or " coarx," 

 but these are only preliminaries. The precentor — the country- 

 folk in Xorth Germany firmly believe that in each pond one old 

 male holds the dignified position of choir-master — begins with a 

 sharp-sounding " brekeke," and this is the signal for all the others 

 to chime in with the same notes, varied with all sorts of other 

 sounds, bass, tenor, and alto, each performer filling its resounding 

 vocal sacs to bursting size, and these bags then look as if they 

 acted as floats. When there are several hundred of these 

 sociable creatures, the din is continuous, and 

 may be heard more than a mile off. There 

 can be too much of this, just as there can be 

 too many nightingales ; and a well-stocked 

 pond in the neighbourhood may become a 

 perfect nuisance. There are accounts of 

 servants having been employed in the 

 Middle Ages for the sole purpose of keep- Fig. 62.—Rana esadenta. 



.1 -1 1 1 / • .1 1 Male with inflated ex- 



mg the noise down by beating the pond, ternai vocal sacs, x 1. 

 throwing stones into the water, or otherwise 



disturbing the frogs. Sometimes more vigorous and lasting 

 measures seem to have been taken ; the monks exorcised them 

 in order not to be disturbed in their vigils. Near the former 

 monastery of Chorin, in the province of Brandenburg, the frogs 

 have still the reputation of keeping very quiet on account of 

 some powerful abbot who threatened them with awful con- 

 sequences if they did not forego their concerts. 



The length of life which these frogs can attain is quite 

 unknown. They do not reach maturity until the fourth or fifth 

 year, but this is long before they stop growing, and it is no 

 exaggeration to say that few, if any, frogs die of old age, since 

 they have so many enemies. The stork is their king in the 

 fable, and his daily visits to his realm strike dire distress 

 amongst his subjects, which soon learn to know his conspicuous 

 white and black garb, and seek imperfect safety at the bottom 

 of shallow ponds and ditches, not too deep for the long-legged 

 and long-billed despot. Numbers are taken by birds of prey ; 

 snakes and tortoises hunt them up in the water, and they are 

 good bait for pike and other voracious fishes. The specific 



