HOW TO KNO^X^ THE AMPHIBIANS 



By DOUGLAS ENGLISH, B.A., F.R.P.S. 

 Author of "Vee Tim'rous Beasties," " Beasties Courageous," etc. 



THE 



THE GRASS FROG. 



FROGS AND TOADS 



THE WATER FROG. THE COMMON TOAD, 



THE NATTERJACK TOAD. 



Vith Photographs by the Author 



OUR tailless amphibians the Frogs and features. The frogs have smooth and 



Toads belong to an Order which moistened skins, the toads have dry 



embraces some nine hundred species skins covered wdth warts. The frogs have 



and has at present been divided into some disproportionately long hind legs, the 



sixteen famihes. toads have legs in keeping with their 



The main division separates those bodies. The frogs have microscopic teeth 



members of the Order which have visible fringing the upper jaw (these can be 



tongues from those which have not. 



THE GRASS FROG. 



The characteristic marking behind the eye passes across the round 

 tympanic membrane. 



\Mth the latter we need not concern 

 ourselves, for none is indigenous to this 

 country. The amphibians which are both some extent on the time of day, and to 



easil}' felt), and also on the roof of the 

 mouth ; the toads have no 

 teeth. The frog's tongue is 

 perceptibly notched, the toad's 

 tongue is rounded. It must be 

 remembered, however, that in a 

 more comprehensive survey of 

 the two families the above dis- 

 tinctions are not strictly apphc- 

 al^le. There are toads with 

 smooth skins, and toads with 

 long hind legs. There are frogs 

 without teeth, and frogs with 

 unnotched tongues. As I have 

 hinted, however, no frog is 

 " arciferous," and no toad is 

 " firmisternous." 



Individual frogs and toads (of 

 the same species) exhibit re- 

 markable variations in colour, 

 which depend to some extent 

 on their surroundings, to some 

 extent on the temperature and moisture of 

 the air, to some extent on their sex, to 



tailless and tongued have been sub- 

 divided according to the structure of 

 their shoulder-girdles, and one branch 

 of this subdivision embraces our frogs, 

 while the other embraces our toads. 

 Of the two, the frogs are the most highly 

 specialised — and the least intelligent. 



British frogs can easily be distinguished 

 from British toads by their external 



some extent on individual idiosyncrasies. 

 Generally, a Grass Frog's hind legs 

 show transverse bars of some dark colour, 

 and always, I think, he is lightest under- 

 neath. The back and sides of him may 

 be plain or spotted, terra-cotta, orange- 

 red, olive, yellow, green-brown or nearly 

 black. The Water Frog is equally be- 

 wildering. He may have a conspicuous 



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