NATURE'S CALENDAR 



mouthed one), yellow perch, white perch, 

 and some others. 



The sea-fishes taken in and about New- 

 York Bay and Long Island Sound this 

 month are few, the markets being largely 

 supplied with deep-sea fish of the cod 

 family, and oysters and clams taking the 

 place of local kinds. 



In the ponds with the fishes dwell, in 

 southerly waters, certain amphibians, like 

 the repulsive nmd-puppies, or sirens, that 

 do not need to breathe air, and a good 

 many late tadpoles, that are waiting until 

 spring enables them to drop their tails 

 and appear in land society as proper frogs. 

 In fact, the marshes themselves are almost 

 as full of frogs in silent February as in 

 vociferous March, but they are all either 

 lounging in deep spring- holes or else 

 buried half torpid in the shore mud, 

 along with the turtles ; and once in a 

 while, when a particularly warm spell 

 rouses them out, we hear a few feeble 

 and doubtful calls, as if asking one an- 

 other why folks were getting up so early. 

 As the toads cannot breathe through 

 their skins, they would drown beneath 

 the ice, and consequently must scramble 

 down into dry soil as far as they can go 

 and hibernate in these holes, with various 

 salamanders for bedfellows; and once in 

 a while the salamanders wander out, dur- 

 ing the thawing days that often come in 

 the latter part of this month. 



The reptiles sleep away the winter in 



February 4 



February 5 



