THE NEWT AND ITS ALLIES 265 



erroneously regarded as a weather sign. The eggs are 

 laid in small bunches in shallow water. 



The Bufonidae include the common toads which occur 

 all over the world. Our Eastern toad 1 inhabits nearly all 

 the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. 2 It is 

 crepuscular in its habits, and feeds chiefly on insects and 

 worms. The eggs are deposited in two long, parallel 

 strings of albumen, which lie coiled at the bottoms of* 



FIG. 250. Rana damttano, green frog. Nat. size. Photo, of living animal 



by W. H. C. P. 



ponds, hatch out in May, and metamorphose about a 

 month later. 



The Ranidae are almost confined to the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere and the East Indies. In the northern United States 

 there are some eight species, of which the commonest are: 

 the leopard-frog, of green color, with irregular black 

 blotches edged with whitish ; the pickerel-frog, light 

 brown, with two rows of oblong square brown blotches 



1 Bufo lentiginosns. 2 Fig. 249. 



