SHORT STUDIES OF BATRACHIANS. 315 



This " herring-frog," as it is usually called, is, I be- 

 lieve, the first to " give tongue " on the return of spring. 

 Hibernation with them is, at best, an uncertain and impa- 

 tient sleep ; and even as early as the middle of February, 

 if there be a few consecutive warm days, they will com- 

 mence what is complimentarily called, nowadays, their 

 song. 



There is a saying common among my neighbors that 

 these herring-frogs must be " shut up " three times by 

 frost before spring fairly opens. I made a note of this 

 years ago, and subsequent observation has shown that 

 it would be nearer right to say "three times three" 

 times. 



The eggs of this frog are deposited on the margins of 

 quiet waters, and adhere loosely to twigs and dead grass. 

 In a short time (I am not sure just how many days, but 

 think it varies with the temperature considerably) the 

 eggs are hatched, and then the waters become fairly alive 

 with diminutive tadpoles. 



By this time these herring-frogs have become com- 

 paratively silent, and are careless of the welfare of their 

 young. They leave the water for much of the time, 

 though they never wander far from it. In the tall grass 

 that grows along the banks of every pool they forage for 

 flies; and they seem to live without any ambition, save 

 that of supplying their daily wants and guarding against 

 the approach of snakes, by whom they are often sur- 

 prised. A chapter on this subject remains to be written. 

 That there is a homoeopathic dose of mind in a frog's 

 cranium, I doubt not ; but I am free to admit, so far as 

 these sill-hoppe tossers of the Swedes are concerned, that 

 I have never found much evidence of the fact. They 

 approach as near to being mere automata as any creatures 

 I know. 



