1 82 REPTILES AND AMPHIBIA 



Mr Kirk informs me that some of these frogs were liberated in 

 Hawke's Bay: 



at Greenmeadow Vineyard and Orchards, some on the Frimley Estate, 

 and a few at the Hastings Racecourse. In the Wellington district a portion 

 of both this and a subsequent consignment (imported in 1899) was released 

 in the Wellington Botanical Gardens and in the orchard of Mr G. A. 

 Grapes, Paraparaumu. At Auckland, the Island of Motuihi was chosen. 

 Some were also released in Queen's Gardens, Nelson, by Mr Kingsley, 

 who liberated them on my behalf. Both attempts to establish these frogs 

 proved failures, for neither the liberators nor myself have ever seen them 

 since, although I personally have carefully searched each locality several 

 times since. In addition to the localities already mentioned, some were 

 liberated on the Government Experimental Station at Moumahaki; the 

 result was exactly the same as in the other places, total disappearance. 



It seems possible, however, that some of them have survived, and 

 may yet turn up in unexpected localities. Mr J. Killen of Whangarei, 

 when at Kaikohe about 1913 or 1914, saw and held in his hand a 

 small green frog which was quite different from the common Hyla 

 aurea. Unfortunately the specimen was not preserved, and so cannot 

 be identified 1 . 



Family RANID.S: 



European Brown Frog; Grass Frog (Rana temporaria) 



In 1864 Mr A. M. Johnson imported 30 frogs to Canterbury 

 from Great Britain, presumably of this species. He kept, however, 

 no record of them, and it may be that" they were lost soon after 

 arrival 2 . 



In the report of the Canterbury Society for 1868 the following 

 paragraph appears: 



The old original frog which was imported into the colony by Mr Murray- 

 Aynsley, and which at one time drew a concourse of 300 visitors to the 

 Acclimatisation Gardens in one day, is supposed to have been swallowed 

 by a stray swan. 



Family BUFONIDJE 

 Common Toad (Bufo vulgaris) 



The Canterbury Society received 12 toads from the Hobart 

 Acclimatisation Society in 1867. There is no record whatever of their 

 success or failure. 



1 Mr Huddlestone of Nelson states that tree frogs were introduced there in a 

 warden case in 1856. It is, of course, impossible to say what species they belonged 

 to, and there is no record of the survival and increase of the animals. 



2 Mr Huddlestone states that large edible frogs were introduced into Nelson 

 in 1867, with the idea of providing food for wild ducks. Probably the common 

 water- frog (Rana esculenta) was the species experimented upon. They do not appear 

 to have been seen again after liberation. 



