166 NOTES BY THE WAY. 



the tree, that I stopped up the hole, determined to re- 

 turn with an ax, when I had time, and cut the trunk 

 open. A week elapsed before I again went to the 

 woods, when, on cutting into the cavity of the tree, I 

 found a pair of tree-toads, male and female, and a 

 large, shelless snail. Whether the presence of the 

 snail was accidental, or whether these creatures asso- 

 ciated together for some purpose, I do not know. 

 The male toad was easily distinguished from the fe- 

 male by its large head, and more thin, slender, and 

 angular body. The female was much the more beau- 

 tiful, both in form and color. The cavity, which was 

 long and irregular, was evidently their home ; it had 

 been nicely cleaned out, and was a snug, safe apart- 

 ment. 



The finding of the two sexes together under such 

 circumstances and at that time of the year, suggests 

 the inquiry whether they do not breed away from 

 the water, as others of our toads are known at times 

 to do, and thus skip the tadpole state. I have sev- 

 eral times seen the ground, after a June shower, 

 swarming with minute toads, out to wet their jackets. 

 Some of them were no larger 'than crickets. They 

 were a long distance from the water, and had evi- 

 dently been hatched on the land, and had never been 

 polliwigs. Whether the tree-toad breeds in trees o* 

 on the land, yet remains to be determined. 



Another fact in the natural history of this creat- 

 ure, not set down in the books, is that they pass the 

 winter in a torpid state in the ground, or in sturnpi 



