162 THE NURSE FROG. 



seeming to be quite capacious, and not depending on sex or locality. The ground 

 color 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 par- 

 tially, 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 



PAINTED FROG. Discoglossus pictus. 



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 NURSE FROG of Europe (Alytes obstericans). 



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, 



