24. REPTILES AND BIRDS. 
an unnatural size ; the head is broader than the rest of its body ; the 
mouth and the eyes are large and prominent. It lives chiefly in 
ditches, especially in those where stagnant and corrupt water has laina 
long time. It is found in dung-heaps, caves, and in swampy portions 
of woods. One has often been disagreeably surprised on raising 
some great stone to discover a toad struggling to avoid the notice 
of the intruder. It is in obscure and sometimes foetid places of 
refuge that the toad secretes itself during the day; only going out 
in the evening in search of food, when the common species employ 
Fig. 7.—Tne Common ‘load 
short hops as its means of locomotion; another, the Natterjack 
Toad (4ufo calamita), is only capable of crawling. When seized, it 
voids into the hand a quantity of limpid water exuded through the 
pores of its skin; but if more irritated, a milky and venomous 
humour issues from the glands of its back. 
One peculiarity of its structure offers a defence from outward 
attacks. Its very extensible skin adheres feebly to the muscles, and, 
at the will of the animal, a large quantity of air enters between this 
integument and the flesh, which distends the body, and fills the 
vacant space with an elastic bed of gas, by means of which it is less 
sensible to external injuries. Toads feed upon insects, worms, and 
