222 ANIMAL SKETCHES. CHAP. xv. 



bodies have been eaten up by their companions. No ! 

 the tails do not drop off, but are absorbed into the body. 

 The very little frog has a ridiculous little pointed stump 

 of a tail. Even the fully-grown frog is not so tailless as 

 he seems. As he squats before you, you will notice a 

 hump on his back. All behind that point represents his 

 tail. In a frog's skeleton you will see that this part of the 

 backbone is converted into a curious rod of bone tipped 

 with gristle. As the tiny fellow into which the tadpole 

 has turned develops into a fully -grown frog, this rod of 

 bone grows longer and longer. 



But though tadpoles when they turn into frogs do not 

 shed their tails, they do shed their skin. The eyes then 

 shine out clearly for the first time, and the fore-limbs are 

 freed from their prison ; the horny jaws are shed and the 

 small tadpole-mouth becomes the large frog-mouth, which 

 will, as the frog grows older and older, get relatively 

 larger and larger. Our little friend ceases to be a vege- 

 tarian, and eats insects and slugs for the rest of his life. 



Sometimes you may see round the edges of ponds thou- 

 sands of little Froggies which have just emerged from 

 tadpole-hood. Poor little* things ! They have many ene- 

 mies. The mortality among them must be fearful. Ducks 

 come and gobble them up by dozens, other birds pick them 

 up as dainty morsels; the great crested water-newt swal- 

 lows them with a gulp, the grass-snake regards one as a 

 tit-bit, even pigs are said to enjoy an occasional mouthful 

 of them ; and lastly the angler baits his hook with them. 

 If you should ever become a fisherman and should use 

 poor Froggie on your hook, please remember the advice of 

 good old Isaak Walton, who, as the examinee observed, 

 was known as the Judicious Hooker, and place him there 

 "as if you loved him." 



