THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 137 
assign to it, has been observed by Mr. Maxwell in England, 
and Guerin-Méneville in France.—Edward Newman. 
Sugaring: Toads al Sugar.—¥Few who collect insects are 
ignorant of the system of sugaring and its surroundings, or of 
the numerous enemies we meet with in the prosecution of the 
work. I do not allude to game-keepers, and the like, but 
those minor annoyances, which come uninvited to interrupt 
our composure and mar our chance of success. It is some- 
what annoying if we have a good moth on the sugar to see a 
bat rush in and take it from us whilst we hold the light for 
its accommodation; neither is it pleasant to cast the light 
upon the sweetened mixture and find it completely covered 
with earwigs, woodlice, and a host of other equally unwished 
for creatures, whose presence seems in most cases to scare 
away those for which the sweet feast had been spread. 
Again, how ugly two or three great black slugs look helping 
themselves to the rum and treacle, although we might have 
seen something not altogether repulsive in their appearance 
amongst the dewy grass at our feet. All these, and many 
other drawbacks are perfectly well known to the entomologist, 
but I was not aware till last summer that the toad came in 
the same category, provided circumstances were favourable ; 
such, however, is the case, as the following facts will prove. 
A friend of mine was accustomed to sugar the posts of an 
open fence near his house, and was sometimes rewarded with 
success. One of these posts becoming infirm a support was 
placed in an oblique direction from near the top of the post 
to the ground, and my friend, on going to his sugar, observed 
that a large toad had crawled up the support and stationed 
itself close to his patch of sweetened intoxicant, and that as 
the insects arrived at the attractive bait the toad appropriated 
them to its own personal use; and my friend further informed 
me that every night he sugared, the toad was sure to be 
there, and that he put on a portion of the mixture for the 
toad’s especial benefit. 1s not this a proof that toads have a 
memory? At least it is evident that the toad, having found 
amore abundant or more palatable fare by crawling up the 
rail, did not fail to be at its post night after night.—G. B. 
Corbin. 
[A precisely similar occurrence is recorded in the ‘ Zoolo- 
gist’ for 1860, at p.7201. It is as follows :—“ There is a tree 
¢) 
