DKLAWARK COUNTY FROGS. 21 



The Swamp Tree Frog, {Chorophihis triseriahis, Wied). 



A little frog with which' I am unacquainted, but said 

 to be native here. It is described as being of a "bluish 

 ash " color, about one inch long, and to be found mostly in 

 swamps, not in trees. Cope says of its cry : "A rattle, with 

 a rising inflection at the end," and Jordan adds, " or like the 

 scraping of a coarse-toothed comb." 



The Cricket Frog, (Acris gryllus, L,e Conte). 



One of the most common, yet one of the shyest. It is the 

 little, sl}^ mysterious creature that peeps shrilly all about 

 one's feet during the evening walk in Spring. A hundred 

 peeps come out of the wet grass and swampy pools, ear-pierc- 

 ing in nearness. But not a frog is in sight. It is not at such 

 a time that one need hope to see the cricket frog. The time to 

 find him is at noontide, when he goes out with ten or fifteen 

 of his brothers to sun himself on a sandy bar beside the 

 meadow rill. As you approach, these frogs, having some con- 

 fidence that they will be overlooked on account of their incon- 

 spicuous colors, crouch quietly down upon the sand. But fear 

 finally overcomes them, and they reveal themselves in their 

 efforts to reach the water. 



The most obvious distinctive marking upon these frogs is in 

 shape of a triangle upon the head, which may be either brown- 

 ish or green. This will distinguish them at once from the 

 young of other species. There are characteristic blotches also 

 upon the sides, and the legs are proportionately very long. 



These make up our Delaware County frogs. The museum 

 should have specimens of all of them. It still lacks the adult 

 green frog, the swamp tree frog, and two of the Hylas, four 

 out of the ten native species. 



But, to return to the sentiment with which we started out, 

 Jthe main thing is to tr}^ to learn more of the life histories of 

 these creatures. Any one with time and inclination, let it be 



