ANURA 181 



Australian Brown Frog ; Whistling Frog 

 (Hyla ewingii, var. calliscelis) 



This little frog was introduced into New Zealand in a curious 

 manner. A Mr W. Perkins brought some over from Tasmania in a 

 bottle in 1875, an( * liberated them in a drain in Alexandra Street, 

 Grey mouth. From there they spread up the Grey River to Ahura 

 (24 miles) on the south bank, but do not seem to have got to the 

 north side. They also spread south for a few miles. 



In 1878 Mr F. E. Clarke read a paper before the Westland 

 Institute on "Notice of a Tadpole found in a Drain in Hokitika." 

 He says: "No frogs or frogs' spawn having been introduced 

 nearer to the West Coast of New Zealand than Nelson and Christ- 

 church, it is puzzling to conjecture in what manner the little stranger 

 arrived." He was evidently unaware that about three years before 

 he wrote his paper Hyla ewingii had been introduced into Greymouth. 

 But the frog was probably introduced into Hokitika by some person 

 who carried the spawn or the tadpoles ; as it is scarcely or not at all 

 found between the two centres. About 1900 Mr James King, of 

 Hokitika, brought some of the frogs from Greymouth to Hokitika, 

 and they increased for a time. But Mr King informs me that they 

 are now very rare, if not extinct, at Hokitika, being apparently dis- 

 placed by the larger Hyla aurea. 



The little whistling frog is one of the commonest frogs of Eastern 

 Australia and Tasmania. Mr J. J. Fletcher of Sydney says that though 

 a true climbing frog it has, at least in Australia, altogether or nearly 

 lost the arboreal habit. Mr A. P. Harper of Greymouth, however, 

 informed Mr Marriner that he had "personally seen these frogs 

 climbing over blackberry bushes at a height of from six to eight 

 feet above the ground." 



Australian Climbing Frog (Hyla ccerulea ?) 



In 1897 a consignment of six dozen climbing frogs was obtained 

 by the Agricultural Department from Mr J. Stein of Sydney, and 

 71 arrived alive. Mr T. W. Kirk said of them in his report in 1898 : 



this frog is similar to the ordinary common frog, so common in many 

 parts of New Zealand, except that it has a very considerable advantage 

 over that species in that its toes are provided with suckers, which enable 

 the animal to climb trees and houses in search of insects. In Sydney I 

 have seen these frogs at the top of a wall four stories high. 



Neither Mr Kirk nor Mr Stein can identify the species, but Mr 

 McCulloch of the Australian Museum thinks it was probably Hyla 

 ccerulea, from the above account of it. 



