120 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part I. 



THK SPRING IROG. 



TffF, LEOPARD FROG. 



THE PICKEREL FROG. 



seen at a distance of more than a few feet 

 from the water. It feeds upon worms, 

 ■water insects and small molluscous ani- 

 mals. The stomach of the specimen from 

 which tlie above figure and description 

 were made, contained the elytra of large 

 coleopterous insects. 



THE SPRING FROG. 

 Rana fontinalis. — Le Conte. 

 Description. — Head and anterior por- 

 tion of the body above green, irregular- 

 ly spotted with brown ; posterior ])arts 

 brownish or greenish ash, spotted with 

 black ; snout yellowish ; chin yellowish 

 white ; posterior margins of the jaws 

 black, or spotted with black; belly white 

 and skin very smooth; skin above and on 

 the posterior parts of the thighs granula- 

 ted; eyes very prominent, pupil black, 

 surrounded by a gohien line; iris finely 

 mottled with black and golden, and sur- 

 rounded by a golden line ; tympanum yel- 

 lowish brown ; a dark colored band along 

 the posterior of the fore leg; hind legs 

 darker, irregularly barred and blotched 

 with black ; nostril nearer the eye than 

 the snout ; a cuticular fold from the orbit 

 alonor the side of the bark, from which a 

 fold passes down behind the tympanum. 

 Anterior toes 4 in., posterior 5. Length 

 3^, posterior e.vtremities ^)^. 



"History. — This frog is found more 

 generally diffused over the state than any 

 other. It is common in most ofthe small 

 streams, and especially about springs, 

 and hence its name, Spring Frog. 



THE LEOPARD FROG. 

 Rana halccina,. — K.\lm. 

 Description. — Upper part ofthe body 

 brownish bronze, marked with large, dis- 

 tinct, circular, oblong and irregular spots, 

 of a dark green or brown color, and usu- 

 ally surrounded by a delicate light, or 

 yellowish green border ; usually two ir- 

 regular rows of spots along the back, and 

 one, two, or three still more irregular 



along each side ; sides separated from the 

 back by an elevated bronze-colored ridge ; 

 fore legs with spots, and hind legs willi 

 spots and bars, similar to those on the bo- 

 dy ; a black line alontr the margin ofthe 

 upper lip, excepting at the point ; tym- 

 panum small, bronze-colored, and nearly 

 round ; e^-es prominent, pupils black, and 

 iris varied with black and bronze, the lat- 

 ter forming a long line over the pupil; 

 throat and belly white and smooth ; feet 

 palmated ; the fourth toe much larger 

 than the rest, and tubercles beneath the 

 joints of all the fingers and toes. Length 

 of the specimen before me, which is of 

 about the usual size, 34 inches ; length 

 ofthe hind leg to the end ofthe longest 

 toe 5^ inches. 



HisTORv. — This is one ofthe most com- 

 mon and least aquatic of all our frogs. 

 During tlie summer, it is met with in 

 fields and moist meadows, at a great dis- 

 tance from any water. It was called by 

 Kalm, who first described it, the Shad 

 Fro^, from its making its appearance in 

 the Spring at the same time with the 

 Shad, but it is better known by the name 

 of Leopard Frog, on account of its ocella- 

 tcd spots.* 



THE PICKEREL FROG. 



Rana patustris. — Le Conte. 

 Description. — Color brownish ash a- 

 bove ; throat and belly white; flanks and 

 under sides of the limbs yellow ; back, 

 sides, upper sides of the limbs, and the 

 margin ofthe under jaw spotted, or bar- 

 red with brownish hlack. Spots along 

 the back squarish, in two longitudinal 

 rows, with two rows of similar, but smal- 

 ler spots, on each side below the lateral 

 line, which is distinct, of a bronzy hue, 

 and extends from the eye to the posterior 

 part of Ihe body. There are usually two 

 spots between the eyes and one in front; 

 hind legs barred with brownish black, 

 and a few spots of the same on the fore 



* Fioss seem to he iihje to subsist for an unlimit- 

 ed lenfjth I'f lime in a torpid state. There have 

 hcer. repeated at'il well authenticated instances of 

 their being dug up, in this state, from depths and 

 under circumstances which made it nearly certain 

 that they must have lain there for many centuries. 

 Dr. Williams (Hist." 1—150, 479) has given the par- 

 ticulars respecting a considerable number of frogs 

 which were dug up in Windsor, Castleton and Bur- 

 lington, at depths of from .'i to 30 feet below the sur- 

 face of the ground. A number of those dug up in 

 Burlinslon were preserved in si)irits in the muse- 

 um ofthe University, where I frequently saw them," 

 and allhougli they were all lost when the college 

 edifice was burnt, in 1894, I think I can safely say 

 from present recollections, that they were all ofthe 

 species Rana Itatecina, which is at present our moat 

 common species. In ]82-^ a living frog was dug up 

 in Bridgewater,at the depth of 26 feet fiom the sur- 

 face of the ground. 



