336 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



year (1881) I found them as late as Nov. 12th, and even 

 later (Dec. 27th) my son found one in the meadows which 

 was as lively as a cricket. The frogs generally were 

 singing this day. For more than two weeks prior to 

 Nov. 12th there had been several white frosts, and the 

 true frogs (Ranee) had all disappeared except the few that 

 lingered in the warm waters of the larger springs. Not 

 so, however, with the " peepers ; " the cozy, sheltered 

 nooks in the ravine I have mentioned afforded them com- 

 fortable quarters still, and after a severe rain-storm, which 

 lasted for three days, I found numerous specimens near 

 the brook, always in moist places, but not where it would 

 be called wet. In many instances they were found ad- 

 hering to the under sides of projecting stones, roots of 

 trees, and even to large oak -leaves. I find it stated by 

 De Kay, in his " Natural History of New York," that they 

 can not retain their hold upon the under sides of project- 

 ing objects ; that the disks on their toes are not sufficiently 

 large. This is an error ; indeed, the specimens I have in 

 a bottle can retain their hold when the bottle is turned 

 over. 



My impression is, that they do not require or partake 

 of any food during their brief experience as matured 

 " peepers " in autumn, i. e., from completion of the growth 

 of their limbs in September to the commencement of 

 their hibernation. My reason for this is based upon the 

 fact that the specimens in a bottle, to which I have 

 referred, were placed in confinement on the 20th of Oc- 

 tober, 1881, and the date of writing, January 29, 1882, 

 a period of one hundred days has just elapsed. During 

 this time these "peepers" have had no food, have been 

 quite as active as their limited quarters would permit, 

 and yet have not lost weight to any important extent. 

 One which I weighed on the day following its capture 



