Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 639 



ditch west of the lake in the spring (April 9), two of these frogs 

 were observed engaged in a Hvely tussle, like a boxing-match. They 

 then sank to the bottom of the ditch and began croaking. Con- 

 spicuous gular pouches projected from each side of the head, giving 

 it a lance-like appearance, much more like that of a serpent than 

 a frog. As the frogs croaked the pouches worked in and out like 

 parts of a bellows. Although the frogs were entirely under water 

 no bubbles escaped. 



In the spring when these frogs first come out of winter quar- 

 ters, they are semitorpid and easily captured, but with the advent 

 of warm weather they become active and are difncult to capture 

 without a landing net. 



In some places these frogs are esteeuied as an article of diet. 

 In Chicago they are hunted almost to extermination. The frog 

 hunters go with sacks to the ponds where they breed, and catch 

 them in great numbers. When placed in the sack they croak con- 

 stantly, the sound being much like that which they make during 

 the mating season. The saddles are seen in great numbers on the 

 fish markets where they retail at 15 cents per dozen. 



The Leopard Frog mates and spawns throughout April and 

 probably into the month of May. One of the favorite spawming 

 places was a shallow temporary pool near Hawk's marsh. Here 

 on April 8 (1901) a great many were seen mating. The male 

 which usually appears to be the smaller, clasps the female closely 

 around the waist and simply hangs on and squeezes. He prob- 

 ably assists by this pressure in forcing out the spawn which he is 

 at hand to fertilize. The eggs on being extruded rapidly absorb 

 water in the gelatinous envelop and swell up to irregular masses 

 as large as, or larger than, the parent frog. The eggs, which are 

 black and resemble small shot, rapidly hatch out into rather dark 

 tadpoles which are not so black nor so small as those of the toad. 

 The tadpoles leave the water in the early summer of the same year, 

 and can be seen about the beginning of July, crawling up into the 

 grass, the shrivelled tail in some cases still persisting. 



The Leopard Frog has quite a number of enemies. In the 

 water they are eagerly seized by fish, and are frequently used for 

 bait. The larva of the water bettle, Dytiscus, attacks the tad- 

 poles and devours them. Snakes catch a good many. At the edge 

 of Bass Lake (Aug. 14, 1906), a pitiful crying, much like that made 

 by a young chicken when caught, was heard in the grass, and it 

 was found that a gai'ter snake had one of these frogs half-way 

 into its mouth, while the frog was vainly trying to escape. 



41—17618 



