TOADS AND FROGS. 67 



wriggling to loosen it all the way round, and thus it gets it 

 off its sides. It pulls its head out like a boy taking off a 

 shirt. But the skin is still hanging to its legs. By the help 

 of its front legs it pulls its hind legs out and then it holds the 

 skin with its mouth while it pulls its front legs out. Have 

 you ever found a toad-skin on the path? Probably not, 

 because the next thing the toad does after getting its front 

 feet out is to use them in bundling up the old skin into a 

 bunch that it can swallow. Now, if there is any mistake in 

 this account be sure to correct it the first time you observe a 

 toad through this process of donning a new suit. You may 

 miss seeing the act but you will not fail to observe the result 

 in the brightness and cleanness of the new dress. 



How the Toad Defends Itself. — One day when carrying a 

 toad in my hand I overtook a couple of boys, one of whom 

 addressed this remark to me : " Say, Mister, will a toad give a 

 fellow warts'?" Turning to the other I asked him what he 

 thought of the subject. He replied at once : " If you haven't 

 warts they'll give you them, but if you have warts they'll cure 

 them." "What makes you think so?" "Because that's 

 what all the boys say." Probably the warty appearance of its 

 own back suggested the common but declining prejudice 

 against the toad as a wart-producer. The dog that has teased 

 one and then takes it in his mouth knows the disagreeable 

 taste of the secretions of these warts. Save for that exuda- 

 tion it would be entirely defenceless and even that is no 

 protection against birds of prey and large snakes so it is not 

 very effective. Its defencelessness may explain why the toad, 

 though possessing such beautiful eyes, seldom ventures out in 

 broad daylight. Seek for other reasons that may account for 

 its crepuscular and nocturnal habits. 



The Toads' Annual Concert. — Every spring all toaddom 

 makes a pilgrimage to the ponds and ditches. Who can tell 



