142 



LIVING CREATURES, 



Tree-toad. 



out and catch an insect by the aid of a sticky gum 

 which it carries, and then turn back with its prize, so 



quickly as scarcely to 

 be seen. 



Of frogs, the tree- 

 frog, the pond-frog, 

 and the bull-frog are 

 most familiar. The lit- 

 tle tree-frog, or tree- 

 toad, is hard to find, 

 because his color is so 

 much like the bark and 

 foliage of the tree. His 

 toes are remarkable. 

 They end in cups or 

 suckers, by which the little climber is able to cleave 

 to the tree. Tree-toads are good weather prophets, 

 and in Germany are sometimes used for barometers. 



This instrument is, mainly, a glass tube, in which 

 mercury rises and falls according to the pressure of 

 the atmosphere. In a similar way a long or high bot- 

 tle is furnished with a very small ladder. Tree-toad 

 is put in the bottle, and climbs up or down the ladder 

 according to the pressure of the atmosphere. 



The bull-frog lives in quiet waters 'where, in early 

 summer, he tunes his instrument a violoncello, per- 

 haps. You may hear him snapping the strings, and 

 then rolling out his roaring bass notes. Some people 

 detect in his notes the words, " Bloody thunder ! bloody 

 thunder ! " The hind legs of Rana are regarded as 

 very delicate food. 



Toads and frogs, when stripped of skin and flesh, 



