FEBRUARY. 37 



where in all nature is there a more suggestive sound than 

 the earliest singing of these clammy creatures ? They are 

 universally said to croak, as though the eleven species of 

 frog and frog-like batrachians that are found in this 

 neighborhood had but one and the same utterance. Think 

 of it ! Toad, spade-foot, hyla, the little peeper, and the 

 true frogs, all condemned to do nothing but dolorously 

 croak ! As a matter of fact, we have among them a wide 

 range of sound, from the deep bass of the bull-frog to the 

 piercing treble of Pickering's hyla. We hear it com- 

 monly said of the raven that it croaks, but not one of our 

 batrachians has so doleful, despondent, and gloomy a 

 voice as has that strange bird. Certainly, not one of them 

 utters any sound that remotely resembles the weird raven's 

 cry. Then, too, there is the advantage among frogs of 

 thousands singing in concert, and the harshness of each 

 individual's voice is softened so that the volume of sound 

 that sweeps over the meadows has a veritable grandeur. 

 We do not stop to detect the defects of any single song, 

 but acknowledge the success of their united efforts in re- 

 joicing at the victory gentle Spring has gained. 



February of 1888 proved an exceptional month. The 

 frogs did not sing. There were days and days of warm 

 sunshine, tempering winds, and all the torpor-dispelling 

 agencies in full force, yet they failed to respond. I found 

 them sunning themselves by many a spring-hole, and 

 squatted with noses above water in the marshy meadows, 

 but not one uttered a word of satisfaction. I lingered for 

 hours about the upland sink-holes, hoping to hear the 

 rattling hylodes, but not one rattled or peeped. Although 

 the ice had disappeared and the water was fairly warm, 

 they remained as silent as when frost-bound in January. 

 Yet they were not inactive. The long continued cold had 

 not chilled them until helpless or stupid. They hopped 

 vigorously from me when I tried to catch them. There 



