WRIGHT] THE AMERICAN TOAD 127 



their way, literally rained up out of the earth, instead of dowTi 

 from the sky. 



When you see all the eggs in yoiu* neighborhood pond, and the 

 thousands and thousands of tiny toads hopping away from the pond 

 you will think you ought to find a toad in every shady nook, and 

 under every board and stone, but that is far from the truth. While 

 they are in the pond, salamanders, fish or ducks may find them 

 dainty tit-bits, and after they leave the pond, snakes and birds are 

 on the lookout for them. It is well for the httle toads that like 

 their fathers and mothers, they feed mostly at night, or I fear 

 hardly a one would grow as large as the ones we commonly see. 

 As the toad grows bigger his skin may grow old and dr\' or it may 

 grow too tight for him. Then a new skin grows right under the 

 old one, and the old one splits down the back or down the stomach 

 and down the legs, and the toad wiggles and twists as he works it 

 off over his head, and sometimes swallows it, before he hops away 

 in his bright fresh coat. 



For three simmiers, these little toads must busily catch insects 

 and grow bigger and stronger. For four winters, they must dig 

 little hollows in the ground, perhaps under a board or stone, and 

 sleep for many months before they will be ready to wake up some 

 fine spring day and join all the father and mother toads in the 

 jubilee in the pond. Wouldn't you like to see a toad dig himself in 

 for his winter sleep? He digs with his hind legs and body, and 

 pushes backward into the hole, and "pulls the hole in after him," 

 at least the earth caves in on top of him as he backs into the earth. 



If you pick a toad up carefully, his skin will feel cool and dry 

 though covered with warts, and he will enjoy a few gentle strokes 

 down his back. ^Tiile you are holding him, look at the large 

 oblong warts or crests on his head, and notice that his throat is 

 darker than a mother toad's would be. If handled roughly, a 

 toad will eject a colorless liquid from the vent, and a milky* liquid 

 from the skin, but this can never in any way harm a person. It is 

 only an imaginary story that toads cause warts. But if a dog 

 catches a toad in his mouth and squeezes him, this liquid will make 

 the dog foam at the mouth and teach him to leave toads alone. 



Toads are great friends of farmers and gardeners. In some 

 countries in Europe, gardeners have bought them to help fight the 

 insects that would hurt their plants. Toads eat a great many sow- 

 bugs, caterpillars, ants, cutworms, cockroaches, grasshoppers and 



