INSECTIVOROUS ANIMALS 279 



on your pillow. It is to me the sweetest sound in nature, the faithful 

 chosen voice of the twilight, one of the most characteristic attrijjutes 

 of late spring, and yet, like the sprightly welcome of the hylodes 

 which ushers in the vernal season, it still remains unsung by our 

 poets, or if occasionally acknowledged the true singer never gets the 

 credit. 



Who will immortalize in verse the pensive witchery, "most 

 musical, most melancholy," of this tremorous song of the toad, for 

 it is in truth the uncouth and ill-favored toad that now swells his 

 bagpipe in the marshes and fills the night with music ? It is one of 

 the beneficences of nature that the twilight glamour throws a veil of 

 obscurity over the performer while it emphasizes and consecrates its 

 music. Hamilton Gibson, Sharp Eyes, p. 54. 



If we go down to the pond next morning, we may see 

 them by scores, hundreds, possibly thousands, paddling 

 about in the water, the males, many of them, trilling at 

 the top of their voices. Many, possibly, are still arriving, 

 hopping along, all toward the pond. The males do all 

 the piping, and it will be noticed that the throat is 

 swelled into a bagpipe while the sound is emitted. Males 

 and females are otherwise distinguished by the larger 

 size of the female, the body being also greatly distended 

 with eggs.^ 



The mass of eggs laid by a toad is remarkable. It 

 may be demonstrated by placing a pair, before they begin 

 to lay, in an aquarium or bucket half full of water. If 

 the water and receptacle are clean, i.e., if there is no sand 

 or plants to become mixed with the eggs, a clear, bright 

 mass of eggs may be obtained. A stone should be placed 



1 Children, when they begin studying toads in the spring, often think 

 that the male is "eating" or "sucking the blood" of the female. They 

 should be told that he is helping the female lay her eggs. 



