236 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



M. nasuta, the largest species, is remarkable for the great 

 length of the horn-like fiaps of skin, situated above the eyes, 

 and for the presence of a similar appendage on the tip of 

 the snout. H. O. Forbes, who has observed this frog in 

 Sumatra, states that its anvil-clinking " Kang-kang " fills 

 the air in the evenings, but it so closely simulates the dead 

 leaves among which it lies, that it is most difficult to find. 



M. longipes, which attains a maximum length of but two 

 inches, is only known from the mountains of Perak, at an 

 altitude of between 3,000 and 4,500 feet. It is said to be 

 entirely nocturnal, appearing quite bewildered by the sun- 

 light, and in the daytime retires under logs and rocks. In 

 spite of its small size, this batrachian is believed to lay the 

 largest eggs on record among frogs, the diameter measuring 

 thirteen milHmetres ; they are deposited in clusters of 

 about a dozen in tree trunks, or under damp moss, and the 

 young emerge fully transformed. 



Several of the species of this genus — M. parva, M. 

 nasuta, M. montana — lay their eggs in fast-running 

 streams, and the tadpoles are provided with strongly 

 enlarged suctorial hps, by means of which they are able to 

 cHng to fixed objects, even in the immediate vicinity of 

 waterfalls. 



The family Discoglossid^ differs in many respects from 

 the preceding, and is best characterized by the presence 

 of short ribs on the anterior vertebrae. The tongue is 

 circular and almost entirely adherent. The processes of 

 the sacral vertebrae are very strongly dilated. 



The type genus Discoglossus is represented by a single 

 species, the Painted Frog, D. pictus, which inhabits 

 Southern Europe and North Africa. It occurs nearly all 



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