THE SPADE-FOOT TOAD. 188 



days and were gone. In the intervening ten years not 

 a specimen was seen or heard, although careful search, 

 annually, was made. I supposed, when they appeared 

 in April of the past year, that they spawned previous 

 to their sudden disappearance, but neglected to investi- 

 gate the matter, in consequence of a press of work in 

 other lines of investigation. The spade-foot toads were 

 soon forgotten. The wealth of bird life that came 

 trooping in from the South during May, and their sub- 

 sequent nesting, occupied my thoughts, and were the 

 prominent objects sought during my daily rambles. 



It was not long, however, before the spade-foots again 

 became the prominent feature of the fauna of the neigh- 

 borhood. During the night of June 25-26 a violent 

 northeast storm arose, and rain fell in torrents. The 

 sink-hole, which for weeks had been nearly dry, was 

 again flooded, and on the afternoon of the 26th was 

 literally alive with these rare toads. Sitting upon every 

 projecting stick or tuft of grass, or swimming with their 

 heads above the surface of the water, were spade-foots 

 by the hundred, and every one apparently uttering those 

 shrill, ear-piercing groans that only these batrachians can 

 utter. Not only during the day but all night their cries 

 were kept up. The following day there was no abate- 

 ment, but during the night the sound decreased. On 

 the morning of the 28th not a specimen was to be 

 seen or heard. 



During this brief interval these animals spawned, the 

 eggs being attached to blades of grass and slender twigs. 

 These eggs hatched on the 2d of July and a large series 

 was gathered a week later. 



