122 TADPOLE 



Frog and Toad Voices. — Notice the different kinds of sounds 

 that frogs and toads make. Many of the peeping sounds that 

 come from swamps in spring are made by toads. The shrillest 

 peep of all is made by a tree frog. The common green-backed 

 frog makes a lower-pitched peep, or a croak. 



On an evening in early spring listen to the sounds that come 

 from a marsh. How many kinds of frog and toad voices do 

 you hear ? On what date did you hear the first one in spring ? 

 How late in summer have you heard them ? 



On summer evenings you may often hear toads peeping and 

 tree toads trilling in orchards and meadows. 



Tree Frogs. — Several kinds of frogs live in trees, but they 

 are usually called tree toads. In the place of toenails the ends 

 of their toes have flat suckers for climbing. The animals are 

 mottled gray and black, and look so much like a bunch of moss 

 that it is almost impossible to find one even though it may be 

 plainly trilling its notes close by. 



Salamanders. — In quiet pools and damp woods you may 

 sometimes find black or brown creatures about four inches in 

 length that look something like small alligators. These are 

 salamanders, but are often wrongly called lizards. They lay 

 their eggs in the water, and their young look like the tadpoles 

 of frogs, and pass through the same stages of growth, except 

 that the salamander tadpoles do not lose their tails when they 

 get their legs. 



