TOADS 



237 



they are quite equal to the natterjack in climbing. An excellent diver, the 

 midwife toad can remain for a long period under water. At night and dawn it 

 searches for worms, and insects and their larva? ; the male at such times uttering 

 a series of bell-like sounds which blend together into a sort of chime, and have 

 o-iven rise to its name of bell-frog. When imprisoned it shows by its actions a 

 good memory of localities and persons, and grows very tame. The most remark- 

 able circumstance in its life is its breeding, which commences sometimes in March, 

 in other cases in August, and occasionally in September. It is the only central 

 European toad which spawns on land, and the male helps the female to bring forth 



-. iMf^ 



THE GARLIC TOAD. 



her two chains of eggs, which form a double cord, by expanding and contracting his 

 hind-legs and winding the cords round his legs and body ; and he carries them about 

 until the young are ready to creep out, when he enters the water, where, after a 

 few hours, the young leave him. 



The garlic toad (Pelobates caltripes), which is the only continental 

 " ° representative of the toad-frogs, inhabits the vast plains of central, 



north-eastern, and eastern Europe, from the lower Rhine to the Volga ; the plains 

 round the Elbe, Oder, and Vistula forming the centre of its area. As soon as this 

 frog has finished spawning (during which season it remains near the water, from 

 the end of March to the end of April or May, according to the weather), it starts 



