TURTLES AND BATRACHIANS OF THE LAKE REGION. 515 



the female closely around the waist and simply hangs on and squeezes. 

 He probably assists by this pressure in forcing out the spawn which he is 

 at hand to fertilize. The eggs on being extruded rapidly absorb water in the 

 gelatinous envelop and swell up to irregular masses as large as or larger than 

 the parent frog. The eggs, which are black and resemble small shot, rapidly 

 hatch out into rather dark tadpoles which are not so black nor so small as 

 those of the toad. The tadpoles leave the water in the early summer of the 

 same year, and can be seen about the beginning of July, crawling up into the 

 grass, the shrivelled tail in some cases still persisting. 



The Leopard Frog has quite a number of enemies. In the water they are 

 eagerly seized by fish, and are frequently used for bait. The larva of the 

 water beetle, Dystichus, attacks the tadpoles and devours them. Snakes 

 catch a good many. At the edge of Bass Lake (August 14, 1906) a pitiful 

 crying, much like that made by a young chicken when caught, was heard 

 in the grass, and it was found that a garter snake had one of these frogs half- 

 way into its mouth, while the frog was vainly trying to escape. 



The Leopard Frog is an entirely harmless creature, and is of great service 

 in helping keep down hordes of insects. 



This frog can be easily distinguished from any other of the frogs about 

 the lake except the Pickerel Frog, which it resembles considerably, but from 

 which it can be told by the absence of yellow on the under part of the hind legs, 

 the absence of any marked color, the blotches being rather rounded than 

 square, and black in color instead of dark brown. The following description 

 will assist in identifying it: 



Brownish or green, with irregular black blotches edged with whitish, 

 these mostly in two irregular rows on back, usually 2 spots between eyes; 

 legs barred above, belly pale, glandular folds large; head rather elongate, 

 length 2.75 inches. 



There are two distinct shades of ground color among these frogs; some are 

 rather dark bro^vn, while others are bright green. 



15. Rana palustris Le Conte. 

 Pickerel Frog. 



The Pickerel or Swamp Frog has a rather narrow distribution compared 

 with its near relative, the Leopard Frog, it being confined to the eastern part 

 of the United States. It is not common about Lake Maxinkuekee; only 15 

 examples were collected. These were found in various situations, 4 of them 

 being obtained at Lost Lake, one by Farrar's, 3 or 4 in Lake Maxinkuekee 

 and 4 or 5 in Aubeenaubee Creek. One was found along the railroad between 

 the lakes. Dr. Hay, in his report on the reptiles and batrachians of Indiana, 

 reports 2 specimens in the State Normal School collection from Lake Maxin- 

 kuekee. 



Very little was learned about its habits. It probably has nearly the same 



