34 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



THE NATTERJACK TOAD. 



a smell not unlike the smoke of gun- 

 powder, but although I have handled a 

 good many specimens from time to time 

 I have never noticed this peculiarity. 



It does not appear to be either as 

 nervous or sullen as the Common Toad, 

 and will, when in captivity, accept small 

 worms and swallow them with relish 



much more readily Avhilst under obser- 

 vation than its better known relative. 



The notes of the male sound some- 

 thing like glouk, glouk, and can be 

 heard at a great distance, but neither 

 this creature nor the Common Frog can 

 compare, from a musical point of view, 

 with a small relative of theirs which 

 I have heard in the United States. At 

 sundown towards the end of April every 

 marshy place in the country seems to 

 palpitate with the shrill piping music of 

 frogs. In fact they produce such a pro- 

 digious and penetrating din that it is 

 almost impossible to listen to any kind 

 of bird notes. Frog music in an Ameri- 

 can marsh seems to me to take the place 

 of song thrush music in a sheltered Eng- 

 lish wood about the same time of year. 

 Hardly anything else can be heard. 



The eggs of the Natterjack are laid in 

 the water, but its young ones do not 

 occupy the tadpole stage of their 

 existence much longer than from six to 

 seven weeks. 



