

PAINTED FROG. IHscoglosyut pictut. 



length. The thumb is quite rudimentary, and its place is indicated by a small tubercular 

 projection. 



The colour and general aspect of the skin are extremely variable, the difference 

 weming to be quite capricious, and not depending on sex or locality. The ground colour 

 is usually yellowish green or olive, decorated with spots and having several white 

 longitudinal streaks. In some specimens the skin is smooth, while in others it is covered 

 with tubercles, and the spots are seldom alike in two individuals, sometimes running 

 together so as to form continuous bands. The white lines too are often partially, and 

 sometimes wholly absent. In this species the male does not possess any vocal sacs. 



THE reader will remember that in the description of the Surinam Toad, on page 149, 

 mention was made of the curious manner in which the female carries her eggs upon her 

 back until they have passed through their preliminary stages of existence. A noteworthy 

 analogy, close in some respects, but failing singularly in others, is to be found in the NUESE 

 FROG of Europe (Alytes obstStricans). 



In this species it is the male that undergoes the anxieties of watching over the young 

 offspring, his mate being comparatively free from that duty. 



When the eggs, about sixty in number, are laid, he takes possession of them, and 

 fastens them to his legs by means of a glutinous substance, and carries them about with 

 him wherever he goes. In process of time, the eggs swell, and become so transparent that 

 the black eyes of the future young are seen through their envelopes. Their careful parent 

 then proceeds to some spot where he can find still water, deposits them, and departs, 



