Frogs and Toads 



frog, of which no more than two hands emerged. Diving 

 again after a moment's time, the frog brought up a second 

 mass of mud, near the first. This was repeated many 

 times, the result being the gradual erection of a circular 

 wall. From time to time the builder's head and front 

 part of its body appeared suddenly with a load of mud 

 on some opposite part. But what astonished us in the 

 highest degree was the manner in which it used its hands 

 for smoothing the inside of the mud wall, as would a 

 mason with his trowel. When the height of the wall 

 ruled about four inches the frog was obliged to get out 

 of the water. The parapet of the wall received the same 

 careful smoothing, but the outside was neglected. The 

 levelling of the bottom was obtained by the action of the 

 lower surface (stomach and throat principally) together 

 with that of the hands." 



The construction of a nursery occupies one or two 

 nights, and the operation might be hastened did the male 

 lend a helping hand. After the mother frog has deposited 

 her eggs within the walls of the nest, both parents remain 

 in the vicinity to see that all goes well ; sometimes, 

 however, tropical rains destroy the structure and then 

 the tadpoles are released before they are old enough to 

 face the world alone. 



,;. , FISHES 



As fishes and amphibia are so commonly associated in 

 our streams and ponds, we will group them together here. 

 From man's point of view the fishes are of the utmost 

 importance ; they form one of our greatest sources of food, 

 but their habits are not of a nature to impress the man 

 in the street. For the most part fish ingenuity is confined 

 to nest-building and, though few of them construct nests, 

 those that do so exhibit a* considerable variety in their 

 ideas of suitable hiding-places for their eggs. The salmon 

 builds one of the most primitive nests of all the nest- 

 building fishes, for it excavates a mere hollow in the 



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