486 



THE NATURE BOOK 



somewhat long-drawn. Mr. Latter has 

 obser\-ed that the laugh of the wood- 

 pecker will start the Natterjack croaking, 

 and that the note of a number in chorus 

 can be heard across half a mile of country. 

 In comparison with these two species the 

 powers of the Common Toad and Grass 

 Frog are feeble, though the latter's ability 

 to produce a mysterious and muifled grunt 

 under water seems peculiar to himself. 



In swimming the frogs are, as might 

 be expected from the development of 



THh. COMMON TOAD FLOATING. 

 It should be noted that the mouth is below the surface and the nostrils above. 



their hind legs, markedly superior to the 

 toads, and the Water Frog, who is essen- 

 tially aquatic, and spends most of his 

 time in the water, is the strongest swimmer 

 of the four ; while the Natterjack, who 

 is essentially terrestrial, is the weakest. 

 Both the frogs s\Wm their fastest when 

 they use their hind legs only and have 

 their hands pressed close to their sides and 

 pointing backwards. Both, however, can 

 do a quiet breast stroke which is the envy 

 of aU human swimmers, and also a dog's 

 paddle. Toads hold their hands pointing 

 forwards and close to their heads. The 

 Natterjack, all nip and bounce and sparkle 

 ashore, is mightily humbled by a swim. 

 He presses his hands palms outward to his 

 cheeks, as though to hide his shame, 

 swells out his stomach so that he is barely 

 awash, and makes slow-measured but 

 emphatic strokes with his hind legs. He 

 reminds one of a portly old gentleman, 

 who is conscientiously striving to im- 

 prove. 



Feeble though his swimming is, the 



Natterjack can give his relatives a lesson in 

 running. The frog's gait ashore is clumsy 

 — or explosive. In walking or chmbing the 

 want of balance between his fore and hind 

 hmbs is all against him ; he seldom, there- 

 fore, invokes these actions, but prefers 

 either a prodigious bound, raising himself 

 forward to begin with, so that his trajec- 

 tory shall be high enough to clear imme- 

 diate obstacles, or a protective mimicry 

 attitude with his body flattened, his head 

 tucked down, and his hands, palms out- 

 ward, covering his eyes. 

 Toads adopt a similar 

 position, which reminds 

 one of a child shielding 

 its head from a blow. 

 A captive frog jumps 

 utterly at random, and 

 appears so scared as 

 neither to know, nor 

 care, where he will land. 

 The Common Toad 

 ^^ can hop in portly 



/VV^ fashion, but his normal 



' t progress is a crawl — very 



different in outward 

 effect from the leap of 

 the frog or the flutter of 

 the Natterjack ; who, 

 though the amount 

 covered at each burst is seldom more than 

 a foot, may fairly be said to run. 



Superstition has for many centuries 

 accredited the toad with venom and the 

 power to use it, and superstition for once 

 is right. The milky secretion on the 

 skin of an excited amphibian, whether 

 frog, toad, or newt, is unquestionably 

 poisonous and protective. That a toad 

 can in any sense spit venom is of course 

 a fable, and it can only be under very 

 exceptional circumstances that the poison- 

 ous secretion will affect a human being. 

 An injection of it, however, is capable of 

 killing small vertebrates, and care should 

 be taken not to expose any abraded or 

 dehcate skin-surface to its toxic effect. 

 The late Miss Ormerod was bold enough 

 to bite a Great Warty Newt gently, and 

 some alarming symptoms resulted. A 

 curious accident once happened to myself 

 in connection with the common European 

 Fire-bellied Toad. I had been handling 

 one freely, and shortly after replacing it 

 in its cage felt a tickhng in one of my 



