638 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



situations; for this reason it is often called the Meadow Frog or 

 Grass Frog. After the tadpoles have transformed they quit the 

 water and scatter everywhere through pastures and meadows, in 

 this respect rather resembling toads than frogs. One of their 

 favorite haunts in late summer is some meadow, where they sit 

 at the edge of a burrow snapping up insects that come along, and 

 quietly backing into the hole at the approach of danger. One such, 

 that had become too plump with food to squeeze into the burrow, 

 was caught and kept a captive. When undisturbed, it frequently 

 uttered low tremulous notes, quite pleasing to the ear. Another 

 favorite habitat is the prairie-like flats at the edge of ponds. It 

 is only occasionally that they are found at the water's edge, ready 

 to jump in at the sign of danger. 



Spring Frog or Leopard Frog (Rana pipiens) 



There are occasions, however, when this frog seeks the water. 

 They retire to the bottom of ponds or to the edge of the lake to 

 hibernate, and frequently on lifting a stick or board from the bot- 

 tom near shore in late autumn, one or more of these frogs can be 

 found under it, straight and stiff, unable to move. In the spring 

 a good many are often found dead under the ice of the thawing 

 ponds, and it appears that the wintering-over process results in 

 considerable mortality among them. 



Early, in the spring as soon as the ice has left, they begin to 

 be commonly seen about. One of the earliest records is March 

 18. As soon as the sun has slightly warmed up the pools in the 

 neighborhood of the lake they appear in numbers. A dismal 

 croaking can be heard in marshy places, but no singer can be seen, 

 and although all heads in sight seem to go down under water, the 

 croaking continues. For a long time this croaking was a mystery, 

 and was attributed to some other creature, but on a trip along a 



