TURTLES AND BATRACHIANS OF THE LAKE REGION. 513 



Green, gray or brown with irregular dark blotches, below yellow, behind 

 white, tympanum 2-3 diameter of eye; fingers 1-3 webbed; skin with small 

 warts; length 2 inches. 



13. Hyla pickeringii Storer. 

 Pickering's Tree-toad. 



Although its range extends over all the eastern United States, there are 

 comparatively few people who know Pickering's Tree-toad at sight. Its 

 presence is manifest to the ear rather than to the eye. At Lake Maxinkuckee, 

 it is seldom seen, only two examples having been obtained by us. These were 

 captured in Aubeenaubee Creek, September 3. It appears, however, not to 

 be uncommon. Its shrill peep is the first sound to waken the marshes in 

 spring. It begins singing a few days before Chorophilus, and after that 

 species has begun, the high-pitched "peep, peep" of the little Hyla can be 

 heard above the rattling chorus of the Swamp Tree-toad. Pickering's Tree- 

 toad does not sing in concert, but different individuals appear to pipe to each 

 other. It sings about the edges of flat shallow marshes, such as those by the 

 Inlet, and by the tamarack swamps. It continued to sing from early April 

 until about May 9. 



In autumn a sound much resembling the springtime note is frequently 

 heard from forest trees or low shrubs on damp days. All attempts to find 

 the author of the note were unavailing, but it is supposed tliat it is made by 

 this toad. It is one of the characteristic sounds of autumn. 



The following description will assist in recognizing the Pickering Tree- 

 toad: Yellowish or fawn-color, with dusky rhomboidal spots and lines, the 

 latter usually arranged in the form of an oblique cross; head with hues; 

 limbs barred; tympanum very obscure; length one inch. 



14. Rana pipiens Shreber. 



Leopard Frog. 



The Leopard Frog is the most widely distributed of the frogs found about 

 the lake, its range extending over North America westward to the Sierra 

 Nevada and southward into Mexico. 



At Lake Maxinkuckee it is to be found almost anywhere along the shore 

 and in low grassy meadows and in the shallow ponds of the region. Examples 

 were taken in Lost Lake, in Culver Inlet, in various places about Lake Maxin- 

 kuckee, in the shallow pond by Hauk's marsh, and in the woods northeast of 

 the lake. 



The Leopard Frog is the least aquatic of the frogs. It does not spend much 

 of its time in the water, but prefers to dwell in meadows and moist grassy 

 places, and can even be found in quite dry situations; for this reason it is 

 often called the Meadow Frog or Grass Frog. After the tadpoles have trans- 



