TREE-FROGS. 



281 



Nesting-Habits. 



edged streak extending from the nostril through the eye and ear along each side 

 of the body, and sending a branch upwards and forwards on the loin, while a 

 whitish line descends from the upper lip to the shoulder, and then runs upwards to 

 the eye, thus enclosing an elongated green area. In habits this frog is most active ; 

 and while in swimming it is nearly equal to the common frog, in leaping it is its 

 superior, in addition to which it is a most expert climber. When croaking, the 

 sac on the throat of the males becomes so inflated as to make this appendage 

 nearly as large as the body. Like toads, tree-frogs do not appear to touch the 

 insects on which they prey until these begin to move. Flies, spiders, beetles, 

 butterflies, and smooth caterpillars appear to form their favourite food ; although 

 they have been known to attack and kill humble-bees. The European species is 

 of very small size, but some of the American and Australian species attain compara- 

 tively large dimensions, one of the largest members of the genus being H. faber, 

 of Brazil, which measures as much as 3J inches in length. 



An interesting account of the breeding-habits of the frog last 

 mentioned, which in Brazil is known as the ferreiro, or smith, is given 

 by Dr. Goeldi, whose 

 observations were made 

 in the Organ Mountains, 

 adjoining the bay of Rio 

 de Janeiro. This frog 

 makes regular pools of a 

 circular form in the 

 shallow borders of ponds 

 and swamps, such pools 

 being surrounded by 

 a narrow mud- wall. In 

 1894 one pond contained 

 nine of these pools, which 

 serve as nests for the 

 tadpoles. " On the night 

 of the 18th of February," 

 writes the describer, 

 "between nine and eleven 

 o'clock, we approached 

 the pond, occupied, as we could hear from a distance, by at least a dozen of the 

 large tree-frogs. The moon was shining brightly, and much favoured our 

 undertaking, but even under these circumstances we had to accustom our sight 

 to discern the details in the marginal vegetation, and the portion somewhat 

 hidden in the shadow. By and by we discovered the ferreiros, some at work, 

 others drumming together on the walls of some pool, or in the middle of the 

 pond, sitting upon some floating object, such as water-plants. The vocalists, of 

 which we could distinguish the moderately inflated gular sacs, were all males." 

 After stating that he was posted on a side of the pond where five nests were 

 already situated, Dr. Goeldi observes that he and his companion were fortunate 

 enough to see the rising of a new nest. In a certain spot he writes that "we 



EUROPEAN TREE-FROGS (tiat, size). 



