TOADS AND FROGS 



tadpoles are more independent and move about 

 separately. I have not seen them take part 

 in these to-and-fro migrations, but each one 

 goes its own way as suits it best. The two 

 kinds can easily be told apart, even in the 

 water, as the toads are always smaller and 

 darker, being almost black. Those of the frogs 

 grow very fast and become a lighter brown. 



Both kinds soon begin to develop legs, the 

 hind ones growing first. If you should find a 

 fawn-coloured tadpole with its fore legs well 

 grown and the hind ones hardly showing, it 

 is neither a frog nor a toad tadpole but that 

 of a newt. In the young of the toad and frog 

 the hind legs are well developed before the 

 fore legs begin to show. In these early stages 

 it does not matter to the young creature if a 

 friend or enemy chances to nip off a toe or 

 two, or even its leg, for they will grow again 

 at once ! When the fore legs are well grown 

 a further change sets in ; the long tail gets less 

 and less, it is being absorbed into the body, 

 and every day the tadpole becomes more and 

 more frog-like. When only a vestige of tail is 

 left, a further change takes place, and this is 

 in the future frog's, or toad's, outlook upon life. 

 A day or two before it had no thought of any 



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