424 



THE WONDER OF LIFE 



into a pool, where he is freed from his living burden. In 

 the case of the Surinam toad (Pipa), the male is said to 

 help the female in placing the eggs upon her back, where 

 each sinks into a little skin pocket, in which it develops 

 without passing through a tadpole stage. In Nototrema 

 the female has a dorsal pouch opening backwards, and into 

 this the male pushes the eggs with his hind legs. In a 

 little South American frog, Darwin's Rhinoderma, the 

 male carries the (5-15) ova in his croaking-sacs, which 

 become enormously enlarged in the course of their develop- 

 ment. Eventually miniature frogs jump out of the father's 

 mouth ! In a number of birds the incubation is shared 

 by both sexes ; in the American ostrich (Rhea) it is said 

 to be wholly discharged by the male. 



When we see the male lumpsucker or cock-paidle 

 (Cyclopterus) mounting guard over the mass of eggs in 

 the rock-pool, and keeping them clean and aerated by 

 frequent agitations of the water, and continuing at this 



FIG. 66. The Lumpsucker (Cyclopterus lumpus). From a specimen. 



