230 THE SOLITARY FROG. 



the sky, does he appear in the day-time, and give utterance 

 to his notes. 



He feeds on snails and water creatures; sometimes on cray- 

 fish and other crustaceans ; and occasionally, if a duckling or 

 young chicken come in his way, he will not scruple to take 

 them into his capacious maw. 



His ordinary size is from six to seven inches ; but speci- 

 mens have "been met with which have measured nineteen 

 and even twenty inches, from the nose to the extremity of 

 their feet. He has a smooth black skin above, with a greenish 

 hue on the head, and lower part of the body grayish- whit'e 

 the throat being white, dotted with green. He can take enor- 

 mous leaps ; and is so admirable a swimmer, that specimens 

 have been known to exist in the water without once land- 

 ing for several years. 



THE SOLITARY FROG. 



Inland, where no water is to be found, we shall meet with 

 a creature of an olive colour the back covered with tubercles 

 and with a blunt nose. It might easily be mistaken for a 

 toad, though it is a veritable frog. Even in winter, before 

 the snow has disappeared, we may see the hardy little creature 

 making its way over the frozen surface of the ground. At 

 the breeding season, however, it returns, like other frogs, to 

 the water. It resides for the chief part of the year in sandy 

 districts, in which it forms burrows, about six inches in 

 depth, by means of a flat, sharp-edged spur, with which it is 

 furnished. Into these burrows it makes its way backwards, 

 very much as a crab crawls into its hole when seeking shelter 

 from danger. There it sits, with its head poked out, watch- 

 ing for passing prey. 



