THE SPADE-FOOT TOAD. • 139 



of my confined specimens, I saw, in the sink-hole, a 

 few individuals which had fairly assumed the land-liv- 

 ing, air-breathing stage of existence. Supposing that, 

 like those I had at home, they would burrow in the 

 earth where they were^ I did not visit the locality from 

 the 21st to the 31st of July, on which date I made an 

 exhaustive but unsuccessful search for them, j^ot a 

 trace of either young or adult could I discover. It can- 

 not be said that they were overlooked. My search was 

 too careful and comprehensive for this, and I believe 

 that these spade-foots, both old and young, wander far- 

 ther from their breeding-grounds than is supposed, or 

 else dig far deeper into the earth than a depth of six or 

 eight inches, as stated by Holbrook and DeKay. 



Since the above was written I have received a most 

 interesting letter from Mr. Nicolas Pike, the well-known 

 naturalist of Brooklyn, L. I., and I take the liberty of 

 quoting a few lines of his concerning the spade-foot 

 toad. He remarks, it is a " most interesting and curi- 

 ous animal, well worth study. It changes its color much 

 during hibernation. As you must have many around 

 you, -by looking on sandy, gravelly elevations I think 

 you would find their holes. They make a turnip-shaped 

 hole, a few inches deep, leaving an opening at the sur- 

 face, and in this they live. They are nocturnal, seldom 

 venturing forth in the day. There is always a secre- 

 tion around their house to attract insects." 



I sincerely wish that I could add that I have found 

 their subterranean retreats, such as Mr. Pike describes, 

 but, so far, luck has been against mo. If all the spade- 

 foots that I saw in the sink-hole had burrows in the ad. 



