304 Newts and Toads. 



cottage folk will still tell 3-011 that the hundreds and 

 hundreds of tiny frogs which may sometimes be seen 

 quite covering the ground fall from the sky, notwith- 

 standing the fact that they do not appear during the 

 rain, but a short time afterwards. And there are 

 certain places where such crowds of these creatures 

 may be oftener found than elsewhere. I knew one 

 such place ; it was a gatewa} r where the clayey soil 

 for some way round the approach had been trampled 

 firm by the horses and cattle. This gateway was 

 close to a slowly running brook, so slow as to be all 

 but stagnant. Here I have seen legions of them on 

 several occasions, all crowding on the ground worn 

 bare of grass, as if they preferred that to the 

 herbage. 



Newts seem to prefer stagnant or nearly stagnant 

 ponds, and are rarely seen in running water. Clay- 

 pits from whence clay has been dug for brickmaking, 

 and which are now full of water, are often frequented 

 by them, as also by frogs in almost innumerable 

 numbers in spring, when their croaking can be heard 

 fifty yards away when it is still. 



Laborers say that sometimes in grubbing out the 

 butt of an old ti-ee previously sawn down they 

 have found a toad in a cavity of the solid wood, and 

 look upon it as a great wonder. But such old trees 

 are often hollow at the bottom, and the hollows com- 

 municate with the ditch, so that the toad probably 

 had no difficulty of access. The belief in the venom 

 of the toad is still current, and some will tell you 

 that they have had sore places on their hands from 

 having accidentally touched one. 



They say, too, that an irritated snake, if it cannot 



