MY TOADS. 153 



entertained by the annelid with respect to its lodge- 

 ment in its captor's stomach, and the struggle which it 

 makes to escape, its head and tail usually protruding 

 at opposite sides of the mouth. 



Now the toad is strangely indifferent to wounds 

 and injuries, and even if nearly severed in two seems to 

 be as unconcerned as if it had no personal interest in the 

 calamity. But nothing appears to annoy the strange 

 creature so much as any object sticking in the sides of 

 the mouth, and it displays a vast amount of uneasiness 

 until it has removed the annoyance. In order to effect 

 this object the fore-paws are brought into play, the 

 creature grasping at the irritating object just as a 

 monkey would do under the circumstances, and either 

 pushing it down the throat or throwing it away, accord- 

 ing to its fitness or unfitness for food. I have known 

 the leg of a beetle, or even the wing of a fly, worry the 

 toad sadly, while a small blade of grass excited it to 

 such a degree that it very nearly looked angry. 



There is one curious point connected with the toad 

 which I have never been able to comprehend. Sup- 

 posing it to be pursuing a fly, and the insect to have 

 settled out of reach, the toad sits watching it just as a 

 lion is said to watch a baboon or a human being who 

 takes refuge in a tree. While thus watching, the last 

 joint of the middle toe of the hind feet is continually 

 jerked with a convulsive kind of movement, twitching 

 in unison at regular intervals. The movement seems 

 to be quite involuntary, and I suppose is analogous to 



