23S THE OPEN COUNTRY 



its summer-life. In spite of the large webs to the toes, it is a land animal, and 

 except during spawning-time lives on dry ground. The young hop about the 

 ploughed fields in the sunshine, but the adults are so exclusively nocturnal that 

 they do not leave their lurking-places until nightfall. By day they sleep in holes 

 under the ground, which have no visible entrance, and are therefore difficult of 

 discovery. During their nocturnal hunting excursions these toads cover a great 

 deal of ground, and they hop in a much quicker and more agile way than 

 the ordinary toad. Their hiding-places are many and various, for every morning 

 a new place of refuge is added to the old ones, this being, so to speak, the work 

 of a moment. With incredible dexterity and rapidity one of these toads, when 

 digging, pushes the earth away with its hind-legs, placing the hind part of its body 

 in the hole, and turning it to the right and left to enlarge the aperture. In a 

 few seconds the earth surrounds it as a wall, and in less than two minutes the animal 

 has entirely disappeared underground. This capacity for digging is principally due 

 to the spur with which each of the hind feet is furnished, this being as sharp as 

 a knife, and capable of being turned outwards like a shovel, so that it may be 

 considered an important means of protection. But the animal possesses another 

 means of protection in the sharp, repulsive, garlic-like odour, which it emits when 

 touched. This odour is, however, very weak during spawning-time, so that many 

 naturalists think that it proceeds only from such individuals as have been in 

 contact with garlic or onions. In the main the garlic toad is a harmless, peace- 

 able, rather stupid, and gluttonous creature, but in the capture of its food, which 

 consists of various kinds of worms and insects, it displays considerable energy. 

 Its voice varies according to sex and age ; the spawning female now and then 

 uttering a low, sonorous grunting, while the male is recognisable by a loud 

 powerful note, uttered three times in succession, interrupted by longer intervals, 

 and deep in tone. Uneasiness is expressed by a short, feeble croak, quickly 

 repeated. If in pain, the creature cries in a pitiful way, very much like a kitten 

 whose tail has been trodden on. Even the young of the garlic toad, at least 

 the four-legged ones, utter a monosyllabic squeaking sound. In September this 

 toad retires to its hole for a solitary hibernation, which is ended in March or. 

 in favourable weather, at the end of February, and at the end of March or the 

 beginning of April spawning-time begins. 



One of the most familiar representatives of the whole group is 

 the frog (Rana temporaria), which spends less time in the water 

 than any other member of its tribe. In this species the back is brown, greyish 

 brown, or yellowish brown, while the thighs are never marked with light or 

 dark marbled cross-bands but with plain brown bars. The ear has a distinct 

 black, or blackish brown spot, and the webs of the toes are not so developed as in 

 water-frogs. The frog may be readily distinguished from its relatives by the 

 circumstance that the heel-joint does not reach the tip of the nose when the leg 

 is stretched in that direction. The abdomen is grey with red and yellow spots, 

 and the total length from 2 to 3 inches. The distributional area of this species 

 ■extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, and from Transylvania in the north 

 to northern Italy in the south, and includes the north-western corner of Spain as 

 well as Japan. The species was introduced into Ireland during the seventeenth 



