128 BUFONDLE. 



Common Toad ; but on these subjects some additional in- 

 formation is required. It is far more capable of sustaining 

 drought than the common species, and is frequently found 

 in dry situations, resorting to the water only for the pur- 

 pose of breeding. Thus I have often found several of 

 them lying under the shallow layer of turf covering the 

 top of the wall of a ha-ha at Selborne, exposed to the 

 powerful rays of the summer's sun, in the hottest and 

 driest situation in the garden; and this, in fact, appears 

 to be their favourite resort. 



The general form of this animal is similar to that of the 

 last-named species ; it is, however, less tumid ; the eyes 

 are much more prominent, and are, in fact, elevated above 

 the upper surface of the head. The porous protuberances 

 behind the head are also less developed ; but the warts on 

 the surface of the skin are even more prominent than in 

 the True Toad. The hinder legs are scarcely so long as 

 the body ; the toes are less palmated than even in the 

 Common Toad ; a structure in accordance with its still 

 more terrestrial habits ; and the rudimentary sixth toe 

 a tubercle which has been so considered, which we find in 

 the Common Toad is here absent. The general colour 

 is a light yellowish-brown, or olivaceous, clouded with a 

 darker hue, and a distinct yellow or whitish line along the 

 middle of the back. The warts, or glands, on the body, 

 and the large glands behind the head of a reddish hue. 

 The under parts yellowish, with black spots; the legs 

 marked with black bands. 



Dimensions : 



In. Lines. 



Total length . . . . .28 



Length of fore leg . . . 13 



Length of hinder leg . . .22 



