THE 



NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



Vol. 15 April, 1919 No. 4 



The American Toad 



Anna Allen Wright 



There are toads all over North America, many in South America 

 and in Europe, and in fact, almost everywhere in the world. In 

 our southwestern states, there is a toad, as big as a large bullfrog 

 but the toad we all know is the common American toad. When 

 full grown, it is about three inches long, usually with dark grayish 

 brown warty skin. It looks fat and short-legged and seems very 

 quiet and slow moving as we see it in otu gardens after worms and 

 insects. The life history of this small animal is very interesting, 

 and the marvellous changes from eggs through tadpoles to adtdt 

 toads take place so quickly that we can see the whole stor\' enacted 

 in two months. Perhaps on quiet evenings you have often hstened 

 to their pleasant trilling songs heralding the springtime. Perhaps 

 you have watched them in the dav'time. Then, it is often hard to 

 get close to them without scaring them, but, if you will visit the 

 pond at night with a flash light, you will have no trouble in watch- 

 ing the toads swell out their throats like great white bubbles, as 

 they rest in the water with just their heads and throats out. They 

 are particularly fond of shallow ponds though any quiet water will 

 satisfy them. 



Toads are ver\- responsive to the weather. In a very early 

 spring, they may come out toward the end of March, and eggs 

 may be laid early in April, but the average time for their egg 

 laying is toward the end of April and through May. The 

 eggs are in two long twisted rope-like coils, arranged in pairs, two 

 coils each of which may be about- twenty feet long. They 

 look like black beads in tubes of jelly, when freshly laid. After a 

 day or two, they are frequently covered with muddy particles. 

 Some strings lie on the bottom of the pond, others are twisted 

 about weeds and t«4gs. The eggs are black above and white 

 beneath. The body of the tadpole grows on the black side of the 

 egg. As it grows larger, the white side of the egg grows smaller 



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