132 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:4— Apr., 1919 



About eight weeks of time are passed in the tadpole stage. 

 During this period, the most perilous in the life of any of the frog 

 and toad forms, the little creatures may meet with various mortal 

 mishaps. Other amphibians, beetles, spiders, crows, herons, newts 

 and various fishes all consider tadpoles to be particular!}^ delectable 

 morsels. What the logical results of such a consideration are we 

 can very well guess! Or the pond may be only a "wet weather 

 pond" and may dry up before the little creatures become fitted to 

 be air breathers. When such a disaster is imminent, the oldest of 

 the tadpoles are, as it were, hurried thru the latter stages of their 

 development by anxious nature, and become lung breathers before 

 all of the water has left the pond bed dry. These are, however, 

 pale in color and small in size, at first, and remain a trifle undersized 

 for some time afterwards, only gradually assuming normal propor- 

 tions and coloration. So eager do the older tadpoles seem, to leave 

 the water, that they apparently cannot wait until the final stage 

 of the metamorphosis is complete. Hence as soon as the arms 

 break through their covering (by this time the legs are stout and 

 strong) they clamber about out of the water on grasses and sedges 

 near the edge of the pond but when danger threatens, back they go 

 as if in terror at their too great haste to leave the element of their 

 childhood! In June, wee tailless frogs may be found in multitudes 

 among the leaves and mosses near the banks, and as they leap 

 about among the dry leaves before your tread they sound like the 

 pattering of tiny raindrops that herald the approach of a summer 

 shower. They appear much like young toads at a hasty glance. 

 While in the water the tadpoles devour myriads of mosquito larvae, 

 and as soon as they emerge upon the land stage of their existence 

 they begin their search for the mature mosquitoes, as well as for 

 ants, gnats, and similar minute forms of insects and spiders. 



By the first of June the period of egg laying is over, and the adult 

 frogs have become silent and have left the pools, migrating towards 

 orchards, gardens, and woodlands. During the summer months 

 that follow they may be found not only on the ground, but clinging 

 to the twigs and branches of trees, on ferns, amid mosses, and, in 

 fact, in almost any situation where an abundance of tiny insect life 

 may be had. The greater number, however, remain on or near the 

 ground, usually in the vicinity of marshes. 



The tongue of the Hyla is heart-shaped, as is that of the rest of 

 our frogs and toads, its bifid portion hanging free behind while the 



