164 ANIMAL LIFE OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



with air to the size of large peas, giving him a very quaint 

 appearance. The croak differs from that of the Common Frog, 

 and has been described as "more of a loud snore, exactly like 

 that of the Barn Owl ; " but this probably refers to the vocal 

 efforts of the female, for Bell says it is so loud and shrill as to 

 have obtained for the frogs the names of "Cambridgeshire 

 Nightingales " and " Whaddon Organs." The males continue 

 to "sing" after the breeding season is past, particularly on 

 warm moonlight nights, when they may be heard for over a mile 

 when the choir consists of several hundred voices. The notes 

 are " Brekeke, gwarr, ooaar, coarx." 



To return to a description of the Edible Frog. Full-grown 

 examples measure from two and a half to four inches of head 

 and body ; the females larger than the males. The head is 

 more slender than in the Common Frog, and the brown ear- 

 drum is two-thirds of the diameter of the eye. The teeth on 

 the palate form two oblique lines ; and there is a pair of 

 glandular folds behind the eye. The ground colour of the 

 upper parts ranges from dull brown through olive to bright green, 

 with dark brown or blackish spots on the back and larger 

 patches of similar tint on the limbs. There is usually a bronzy- 

 brown line along each side of the back, in addition to the 

 central one already named. The back of the thigh is always 

 spotted with black and white or yellow. Though the thigh of 

 the Common Frog is barred or blotched, it never bears these 

 additional spots. The coloration generally is much brighter 

 where the vegetation is light than in dark swamps with sombre 

 vegetation. 



The developmental history of the Edible Frog from the egg to 

 the loss of the tadpole tail follows much the same course as that 

 of the common species, and it is not necessary to recapitulate 

 it. The eggs are more numerous, one female producing from 

 five to ten thousand. The tadpole condition lasts three or four 

 months. Full-grown tadpoles are about two and a half inches 



