632 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



eating them. They came out of winter-quarters about April 23, 

 when they repaired to the water at once and began singing. By 

 April 27 they were in full chorus in a pool by the railroad, and 

 were busy mating and spawning. The height of the mating sea- 

 son extended from about the last of April until well into May, al- 

 though they continue mating until the fourth of July and per- 

 haps even later. They have been heard singing as late as Au- 

 gust 26. 



A great number were observed mating in Culver Inlet April 

 30. The males cling very tightly to the females; some captured 

 and kept all afternoon in a botany can filled with plants did not 

 relax their hold. The singing toads are usually unmated males. 

 They sit at the water's edge and call with a tremulous, hardly 

 muscial, note, beginning with explosive emphasis and dying down 

 at the end, the loose skin under the throat being blown up into a 

 hemispherical bubble while they call. A good many dead toads 

 were found in the pool at the same time, indicating that the mating 

 season is one of especial mortality among them. The female toads 

 were noted spawning while clasped by the male. The eggs are 

 laid in gelatinous strings, two strings laid at a time, each string 

 of clear jelly, about 3/16 inch in diameter and containing 2 rows 

 of eggs, black objects about the size of pinheads with a whitish 

 point on each. While carried in a closed vessel the toads uttered a 

 low, purring, humming noise, quite pleasing to the ear. Two were 

 placed in a bucket over night and a number of eggs were found 

 there in the morning. 



The toads of this region represent two distinct color phases, one 

 type being more or less slaty blue and the other brick red. This 

 difference in color is not usually noted when one sees single toads 

 hopping about, but where numbers are congregated during the 

 breeding season the contrast is quite noticeable. It appears to 

 have nothing to do with age or sex, and toads of different colors 

 are often found mating together. 



The toads spawn in the lake as well as in the shallow pools. 

 The eggs soon hatch into small black tadpoles which, in warm 

 water, rapidly develop into minute toads, which can be seen hop- 

 ping along shore. Young toads were seen hopping about on July 

 27 ; they are almost black, much darker than their parents. After 

 mating and spawning, the toads scatter again, and in the autumn 

 one comes across them of various sizes, the variation in size being 

 probably the result of the long breeding season. 



The toad is a decidedly beneficial creature, as it captures great 

 numbers of insects. They frequently fall a prey to snakes, and 



