AUTUMN III 



he will pop out from vacancy under your 

 very nose. Probably he buries himself at 

 the first frost. One of our earlier and ex- 

 perimental batches of toads never appeared 

 again after their first winter. I fear they 

 suffered in the early spading of the flower- 

 beds, either being jammed deep, beyond 

 hope of resurrection, or cut in twain by 

 the ignorant implement. 



Toads are not pretty, but they are use- 

 ful in eating insects, and there is no harm 

 in them. The bigger toad is active about 

 nightfall, but he hops into the shade if he 

 sees me coming. When I take him up 

 he discharges water and tries to get away, 

 ducking and flinching every time I stroke 

 his head. One hot afternoon I discovered 

 him in a dense growth of sweet alyssum 

 by his croak, a short, faint hen-like note 

 several times repeated. When one of the 

 children took him up he croaked in his 

 hands. Later in the season he became 

 more vocal. This toad appeared to get 

 his growth in about two months, and his 

 voice came with his stature. On taking 

 him up in the fall, he would occasionally 



