THE ANIMAL SERIES 



389 



called tadpoles, are large enough to take care of themselves 

 they emerge from this gelatin-like substance. 



The tadpoles breathe with gills the same as fish, and their 

 means of locomotion are nearly the same as those of fish. 

 The tadpoles live by eating very small animals and plants 

 found in the water. 

 The difference between 

 a frog tadpole and a 

 toad tadpole is that 

 the frog tadpole is grey 

 in color and has a 

 longer body with a 

 heavier tail than the 

 toad tadpole, which 

 has a short, round body 

 and a very slender tail, 

 and is black in color. 

 The frog tadpole also 

 requires the whole sum- 

 mer and sometimes a 

 part of two summers to 

 grow to maturity, while 

 the toad tadpole grows 

 to maturity in about 

 one half of a summer. 



When the tadpoles reach what may be called the mature 

 stage, the gills are lost and lungs are developed within the 

 body; legs also appear, the hind ones first, and the tail is ab- 

 sorbed into the body, the material being used for the build- 

 ing up of the legs. After the frog or toad has changed into 

 the form of the adult with lungs and four legs, it spends 

 most of its life on land. Frogs spend much of their time 

 sitting on the bank watching for insects. In the winter 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FROG 



i, eggs; 2, tadpole; 3, tadpole develop- 

 ing hind legs; 4, same tadpole but larger; 

 5, front legs appearing; 6, tail being ab- 

 sorbed; 7, frog in adult form. 



