SHORT STUDIES OF BATEACHIANS. 329 



or at evening. The supposition that they are particu- 

 larly noisy at night is wholly inapplicable to my apple- 

 tree toads. Had I never heard anything about these ani- 

 mals, I should have reported them as croaking not be- 

 cause it was likely to rain, but because it was so dry that 

 they were suffering for want of moisture. After an un- 

 usually hot day, during the early summer, I have noticed 

 that they croak a great deal after sunset, when the air 

 becomes damper, seemingly out of pure satisfaction at 

 the desirable change ; while during our annual summer 

 drought they croak much at mid-day, and this, I have 

 thought, was a cry of impatience uttered in anticipation 

 of the refreshing bath of dew that only comes with 

 night-fall. 



"When we do have a fairly wet season, these tree- toads 

 are less full of croak than during a dry one ; and never 

 have I been able to detect the slightest connection be- 

 tween the cries of the apple-tree toads in the lane and 

 either a passing shower or a coming storm. 



It may be asked of the tree-toad, as of many another 

 of our fauna, are they as abundant as formerly ? In an- 

 swer to this, I quote Captain Jonathan Carver, who, in the 

 concluding chapter of his " Travels in Korth America " 

 (1766-'69), says : " These creatures . . . infest the woods 

 in such numbers that their responsive notes at these times 

 make the air resound." The rest of the notice is a mixt- 

 ure of truth and absurdity, and is omitted ; but the por- 

 tion quoted would indicate that either tree-toads were for- 

 merly more abundant than at present, or that the author 

 has confounded the animal with some one of the true 

 frogs. 



The tree-toads, while always at home during the day, 

 are as active as a hop-toad during the night, and wander 

 about the home-tree in search of food. Unless disturbed, 



