318 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



pects any danger. While, perhaps, not the earliest to sing 

 during the few spring days which we sometimes have 

 late in February, yet it follows very closely in the wake 

 of the others, and repeats much the same sounds, but in 

 a deeper voice a sort of bass accompaniment to the 

 treble of the herring-frog. Here, perhaps, it would be 

 well to mention that Kalm's impression, derived from 

 the Swedes, that the singing of the herring-frog an- 

 nounced the arrival of the herring, is not quite correct. 

 They anticipate the coming of the fish, by from two to 

 three weeks, in five years out of every six. This is true 

 of late years, and it is doubtful if the herring ever came 

 any earlier than now. 



I have usually found the eggs of this frog, in May, 

 attached to long grass. They are larger, and are depos- 

 ited in bulky, irregular masses of a glossy, gelatinous 

 substance, which holds them safe, even in strong currents 

 of water, until the eggs are hatched. So conspicuous are 

 these masses of ova, that I have often wondered why they 

 were not devoured by the fishes and turtles. These ani- 

 mals, however, do not appear to molest them ; at least, I 

 have never seen either turtles or fish in the act. This is 

 negative evidence, it is true, and must go for what it is 

 worth. 



Unlike the frogs already mentioned, the spring-frog 

 does not hibernate with the regularity supposed to be 

 characteristic of these animals generally. Every winter 

 I have found that several took up their residence, for the 

 season, in the deep water of a large spring near the house. 

 This gave me abundant opportunities for observing them, 

 and I found that while they remained at the bottom of 

 the spring more than they did during the summer, yet 

 they occasionally came to the surface, and stuck the tips 

 of their noses just out of the water. I believe they took 



