TOADS AND FR008. 





also of Centra] America, Peters found traces of externa] 

 gills. The Pipa, or Surinam toad (Pipa Americana), 

 which has no tongue, neither teeth in the upper jaw, bas 

 similar breeding habits, [n this interesting toad the young 

 ar<> provided with small gills, which, however, are of no 

 use to tin-in, as the tadpoles do not enter the water, but 

 are carried about in cavities on the back. Tl, 

 placed by the male on the back of the female. The female 

 then enters the water; the skin thickens, rises up around 

 each egg and forms a marsupial sac or cell. The young 



• ' li rough their metamorphosis in 

 tlir sacs, having tails and rudimentary 

 gills; these are absorbed before they 

 leave their cells, the limbs develop, 

 and the young pass out in the form 

 ■ if the adult. 



The toad { Bufo le?itiginosus ) isex- 



dingly useful as a destroyer of 

 noxious insects. It is nocturnal in 

 its habits; is harmless, and can lie 

 taken up with impunity, though it 



. . :, . Martinique 



gives nut an irritant acrid llunl from - the 



the skin, which if transferred to the N 



eye or lids occasions some pain. In the Northern Suites 



toads begin to make their peculiar low trilling notes from 



the middle to the ■-'"til of April; from the latter date until 



the first of dune they lav their eggs in l<>;iu r double si 



and the tadpoles are usually hatched in about ten days 



after the egg8 are laid. 



Of the true frogs (Rana) there are numerous - 

 those the largesl is the bull-frog, which maki eep, 



hoarse, grunting noise. Smaller and more common - 

 are the pickerel-frog and the marsh-: ■_. The frogs lay 

 their eggs in roundish masses in ponds and pools from 

 April to June, according to the latin: 



While most frogs are greedily devoured by herons and 

 other large wading birds, as well as ducks and geese, and 



