THE COMMON INDIAN TOAD 367 



even when patted by the paws of the dog, preferring 

 to remain fixed on the spots at which they have 

 been surprised, and to exude the poison while they 

 blow themselves out until it appears as though 

 they must inevitably burst. 



Their call is a relatively feeble one, but, owing to 

 the enormous numbers in which they occur, they are 

 most important performers in the nocturnal concerts 

 that fill the air in the neighbourhood of ponds, and 

 are often so powerful as almost to drown those 

 of the crickets and cicadas in the surrounding trees. 

 Their eggs, unlike those of the bull-frogs, are always 

 laid in water, and, during the earlier half of the 

 rainy season, almost every pond is full of swarms 

 of their small, black tadpoles. A little later the 

 young toads begin to come ashore, and then it 

 is often very difficult to avoid treading on the hosts 

 of little black creatures, who hop about over the 

 roads and grass in such numbers that one might 

 well imagine that " the land has brought forth 

 frogs." The emergence of a flight of white ants is 

 always an occasion of joyful excitement among the 

 toads of the neighbourhood. They come hurrying 

 in from every quarter to congregate around the 

 place where the awkwardly struggling insects are 

 crowding and rustling up from the soil, and settle 

 themselves down to a prolonged and copious feast. 



Several other kinds of frogs and toads are con- 

 stantly to be found in gardens in numbers that 



