246 THE AMPHIBIA 



and then make their entry into the world by way of their father's 

 mouth. 



Toads make very interesting and useful pets in a garden, for 

 the number of slugs, caterpillars, and worms they will devour is 

 astonishing. If kept in a cage, care should be taken to provide 

 a large shallow pan of water for them, as they delight to bathe 

 and literally soak themselves in water. I have for years kept 

 numbers of British and foreign toads, and provided they are 

 supplied with the shallow pan of water, which must only be deep 

 enough partially to cover them, so that the head and back are 

 exposed above the surface when the toad sits up, they will be per- 

 fectly healthy, happy, and contented. They become very friendly 

 with those who care for them and feed them, taking meal-worms 

 or caterpillars from the open hand quite fearlessly. In the spring 

 the Common Toad (Bufo vulgaris) betakes itself to the neighbour- 

 ing pond, where courtship takes place, and the eggs are laid in 

 long gelatinous strings, not in a mass like the spawn of the frog. 

 The tadpole is smaller and darker than that of the frog, and its 

 metamorphosis appears to cover a rather longer period. The toad 

 hibernates during the winter months, getting into mud, or down 

 holes, and cracks in the earth; and it is the finding of these 

 hibernating toads in unusual places that has given rise to the 

 imaginary stories of their living for years or centuries walled up 

 in the solid rock or the heart of a tree. The late Dr. Buckland 

 proved most conclusively by actual experiments that no toad 

 can live for two years without food and water. 



The Natterjack Toad (Bufo calamita) is of a light, yellowish- 

 brown colour, clouded with dull olive, and has a bright yellow 

 line running down the back. It is a lively animal, moving fairly 

 rapidly along with the body well raised from the ground. 



The Agua or Giant Toad (B. marinus) of Central and South 

 America frequently reaches a length of 6 inches and a width of 

 4 inches as it squats on the ground. In the rainy season large 

 numbers of these huge toads make their appearance, hopping 

 about with surprising agility. The Pantherine Toad is a native 

 of north-western Africa, Algiers, and Morocco, and is a very 

 handsome animal, measuring 3 to 4 inches in length. On its 

 upper surface it has a dark-edged pattern of brown or olive 

 patches upon a light buff-coloured ground, while the under sur- 



