HYLA VIRIDIS. 121 
the sound of a small bell; and there seems in general to be one leader of their 
orchestra, and when he raises his note, hundreds take it up from all parts of the 
cornfield, and when he stops, the concert is at an end, until he again begins. 
They feed on various insects, especially the common fly, which they seize with 
great adroitness, leaping a foot or more to secure it. At certain seasons they 
may be seen on the ground on their way to pools of water; they are then exceed- 
ingly active, leaping at times eight or ten feet. 
GrocrapHicaL Distrisution. For the present we must set down latitude 33°, 
on the Atlantic coast, as the northern limit of the Hyla viridis; thence it extends 
through Georgia, Florida and Alabama to Mississippi, but I have no evidence of 
its existence further west. 
Genera Remarks. ‘The first notice of the Hyla viridis, now under considera- 
tion, is in Catesby’s History of Carolina, &c.; he there calls it the Green 
Tree-frog, and gives a very good detailed account of its habits, accompanied with 
a tolerably accurate drawing. 
Linnus seems to have regarded this animal as a variety of the common Rana 
arborea, which he says, incorrectly however, inhabits both Europe and America. 
The next account of the Hyla viridis is found in the Synopsis Reptilium of 
Laurenti, who first separated the genus Hyla from that of Rana. He called the 
Tree-frog of Europe “Hyla viridis,” and considered the Tree-frog of Catesby as 
a variety under the same name. Now, the specific name of viridis cannot be 
used for the Tree-frog of Europe, inasmuch as Linneus and other naturalists had 
previously imposed upon it that of arborea; and this leaves the specific name 
viridis unapplied, and consequently it may be used for our animal, as given it by 
Laurenti, who seemed to consider it as very distinct from the common T ree-frog 
of Europe; nor can there be any doubt of his meaning, for he refers expressly to 
Catesby’s seventy-second plate of the second volume, saying, “Corpore tereti, 
Vox. IV.—16 
