Although rarer than the Common Toad or Frog, the Natterjack is more beautiful than 



either of them." 



THE NATTERJACK, OR RUSH TOAD 



A 



I/THOUGH rarer than the 

 Common Toad or Frog, 

 the Natterjack is more 

 beautiful than either of 

 them, if such an adjec- 

 tive can be applied to 

 what Gilbert White would 

 have called " a vile reptile." 

 It is lighter coloured than its better- 

 known relative, being of a yellowish 

 brown tint, clouded with dull olive. 

 A well-defined bright yellow line running 

 down the centre of the back proclaims 

 its identity with certainty and ease, 

 even to the most casual observer. It 

 has a habit of standing with its body 

 higher than that of the Common Toad, 

 and when moving about on land gets 

 over the ground more quickly. 



I have kept it in confinement on 

 several occasions, and as it is a hardy 

 creature capable of sustaining itself in 

 dry places, I have tried to acclimatise 



it to the Surrey hills, but in vain. 

 Norfolk and other specimens turned 

 loose in the neighbourhood of Cater- 

 ham Valley, where the Common Toad 

 is abundant, have apparently shared 

 the same fate as edible snails, which I 

 have sent to broad-land, viz., vanished. 



Some of my readers may say : 

 " Exactly what was to be expected, as 

 the Natterjack is a creature of ditches, 

 ponds, and damp places." Not entirely, 

 I submit, for it is to be found amongst 

 the sand dunes at Ravenglass in Cumber- 

 land, and Professor Bell, who lived for 

 a time in Gilbert White's old house ^t 

 Selborne, records that the favourite 

 resort of the Rush Toads inhabiting the 

 famous naturalist's garden was under 

 a shallow layer of turf, covering the 

 top of a wall which was 'exposed to 

 the summer sun in the hottest part 

 of the garden. 



It is said that the Natterjack emits 



33 



