COMMON TOAD. 167 



The pimples of various size that diversify his skin are not 

 mere ornament, though they help materially to produce the 

 clod-resemblance. They are glands that on occasion pour out 

 an acrid and offensive fluid that often saves the Toad when he 

 is caught up in the jaws of some unsophisticated carnivorous 

 beast or bird. Experience teaches such enemies to leave the 

 Toad alone. The largest of these glands the parotid may be 

 seen as an elongated, porous swelling behind the eye. The 

 underside is whitish, the white being qualified always with an 

 admixture of yellow, brown, or red, sometimes spotted with 

 black. 



In the matter of size : taking the head and body for length, 

 average males measure about two and a half inches and 

 females an inch longer. Occasionally we may meet with much 

 larger examples, and we may safely set down such monsters as 

 females. The male has no vocal sacs, internal or external, as 

 in the Frogs ; but both sexes can croak with several variations 

 of tone. These sounds are emitted much more freely in the 

 pairing season. The male develops special grasping pads on 

 the palm and three inner fingers, at the pairing time. 



After the breeding season Toads wander away from the 

 water, and distribute their forces over field, hedgerow, wood, 

 and gardens, wherever there is an abundance of insect life, for 

 the quantity of food each Toad consumes is enormous. It 

 includes beetles, caterpillars, flies, snails, worms, woodlice, and 

 small mice. If the droppings of a Toad be examined, they will 

 be found to consist very largely of the indigestible parts of 

 beetles. The Toad spends the hotter part of the day concealed 

 under the lower foliage of plants, and as many nocturnal insects 

 seek similar situations in the daytime, he has no difficulty in 

 enjoying a continual feast. His appetite appears to be always 

 keen, no matter how well he has fed. Some years ago, when 

 we were pointing to a portly female in her favourite daytime 

 " form " in the garden, a friend expressed the opinion that she 



