2644 



FROGS AND TOADS 



it be a soft tender larva, it is generally swallowed alive. Toads will also take earth- 

 worms of considerable size; and it is a curious sight to watch the manner in which 

 the powerful and writhing worm is secured. If the toad happen to take it by the 

 middle, the extremities of the worm are twined with great force and activity around 

 the muzzle of its captor in every direction, in its attempts to escape; but the toad 

 pushes one portion after another into its mouth, by means of the fore-feet, until it 

 all disappears, when it is swallowed whole." The eggs of the toad differ from 

 those of the frog in that, instead of forming an irregular mass with their inclosing 

 jelly, they are arranged in a regular, double, and alternating series in the form of a 

 string, which may be a yard or more in length. These strings are generally de- 

 posited in the water about a fortnight later than the spawn of the frog; and it is 

 not till autumn that the young toads complete their metamorphosis, and forsake the 

 water. From that of the frog, the tadpole of the toad is distinguished by its 

 smaller size and blacker color. 



MEXICAN SHARP-NOSED TOAD. 

 (Natural size.) 



Green Toad 



The green toad (Bufo viridis} of Europe, Asia, and Northern Africa, 

 . g & ^ handsomer S p ec ies, distinguished by the presence of a fold on 

 the ankle, and likewise by the simple structure of the tubercles on the lower surface 

 of the toes of the hind-foot. There is likewise a vocal sac beneath the throat of the 

 male, which is wanting in the common toad. The upper parts carry a number of 

 irregular, flattened, and porous warts; and the glands behind the eyes, although 

 sometimes enormously developed, are generally of moderate size and more or less 

 kidney shaped. The color is olive or greenish above, generally spotted or marbled 

 with a darker shade, although occasionally nearly uniform; while the under parts 

 are either uniformly whitish, or whitish with dark spots. 



A third European species, which, unlike the last, is locally repre- 

 sented in England, is the natterjack toad (B. calamita) easily recog- 

 nized by the yellow or whitish line running down the middle of the 

 back. From both the preceding it is distinguished by the much smaller extent of 



Natterjack 

 Toad 



