HANKINSONI 



ANIMAL LIFE IN PRAIRIE PONDS 



239 



connected with any stream systems. Tadpoles of at least three 

 species of amphibians become very abundant and conspicuous in 

 late spring and early summer. These come from the eggs of the 

 common toad, the leopard frog, and the swamp tree frog, Choro- 

 philus nigritus. The eggs of all of these are laid in early spring. 

 Those of the swamp tree frog are by far the most numerous. 

 These eggs are found in large numbers and are very generally dis- 



FlG. 



5. Interior of the Cottonwood Region. The ink circle 

 surrounds the green heron's nest 



tributed through the pond, and they are readily identified by the 

 small size of the gelatinous masses, which are near two inches in 

 length by perhaps an inch in thickness. They are attached to 

 slender submerged sedge and rush leaves. Two turtles have been 

 found in the largest one of these ponds, a huge sna])])ing turtle and 

 a Blanding's turtle. 



These ponds arc favorite resorts of a number of kinds of birds. 

 In spring and summer, red-winged blackbirds are universally 

 present in conspicuous numbers. The males come in March, and 



