NOTES BY THE WAY 147 



ing up the sound, I decided, after some delay, that 

 it proceeded from the trunk of a small soft maple ^ 

 the tree was hollow, the entrance to the interior 

 being a few feet from the ground. I could not dis- 

 cover the toad, but was so convinced that it was 

 concealed in the tree, that I stopped up the hole, 

 determined to return with an axe, 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 associated together for some purpose, 

 I do not know. The male toad was easily distin- 

 guished from the female by its large head, and more 

 thin, slender, and angular body. The female was 

 much the more beautiful, both in form and color. 

 The cavity, which was long and irregular, was evi- 

 dently their home ; it had been nicely cleaned out, 

 and was a snug, safe apartment. 



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 jack- 

 ets. Some of them were no larger than crickets. 

 They were a long distance from the water, and had 

 evidently been hatched on the land, and had never 

 been polliwigs. Whether the tree-toad breeds in 



