HYLA VERSICOLOR. C17. 
the northern and middle states, as far as lower Virginia, which state must for the 
present be considered its limit to the south. I cannot determine its geographical 
distribution west of the Alleghanies; it seems however widely extended, for Le- 
sueur observed it on the Wabash, and Professor Troost furnished me with 
several fine specimens from the banks of the Cumberland river. 
Hasirs. This animal is commonly found on trees and about old stone fences, 
overgrown with mosses and lichens, the colour of which it so closely resembles 
that it frequently escapes observation, even when sought for. It very commonly 
chooses old and decaying plum trees for its abode, probably because the insects 
on which it feeds are most abundant in such situations. It is very noisy towards 
evening, in cloudy weather, or before rain, its voice consisting of a liquid note, 
terminating abruptly, like I-I-I-l-l-l-luk. At the close of spring, and during great 
part of the summer, when the toad has become silent, this note may be heard, 
especially in the evening, from various shallow pools, to which the animal resorts 
for the purpose of depositing its spawn. Harlan* mentions an instance of one 
being dug up at the root of an apple tree, during the winter season, several feet 
beneath the surface of the ground. 
Generat Remarks. The vericose body of this Hyla, and its rounded shape, 
give it the appearance of a toad; the skin also is moist and viscid, exuding an 
acrid fluid, which has led many persons to believe it poisonous; and certainly the 
secretion aflorded by the glands of the cutaneous organs is more acrid than that 
given off by any other toad or frog which I have seen in a living state. 
It is remarkable that an animal so common and so very noisy should have so 
long escaped the attention of naturalists. The first mention made of it is in 
Kalm’s “Travels in North America:” he however only describes its habits, and 
refers to the Rana arborea of Linneeus, to which it bears but a slight resemblance. 
Leconte was certainly the first who minutely and accurately described it, and 
established its claim to be considered as a new and distinct species. 
~ Medical and Physical Researches, p. 109. 
