68 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE. 



how they know the way or whether they try to go to the pond 

 where they began life as tadpoles or to the nearest suitable 

 situation 1 Perhaps depending on their hearing they move in 

 the direction of the noisy saengerfest. It is only the males 

 that join the chorus. Their loud and long continued trill 

 distinguishes them from the other musicians of the swamp 

 band. Than that they find their way to the pond it is still 

 more astonishing that they return, as it is claimed, to their 

 respective homes. If you bring a toad from a neighbor's 

 garden to your own will it stay with you or return to your 

 neighbor? This question ought to be easily answered by 

 experiment. Toads can be tamed and petted. Pennant tells 

 of one that lived as a pet in a British garden for forty years. 



The Adult Frog. — The adult frog is a more attractive and 

 lively animal than the toad. It does not slough and swallow 

 its skin like the toad, but sheds it in flakes and patches, 

 which come off in the water. Its skin, when wet, takes part in 

 respiration, hence a frog's health soon suffers if it cannot get 

 a bath. Like the toad it is carnivorous, feeding upon worms 

 and insects, flies and mosquitoes being its favorite delicacy, 

 and always refusing to capture its prey until movement 

 indicates the presence of life. Either of these animals would 

 starve beside a basin of dead flies. The frog is easily kept 

 in captivity, and its habits observed. I have kept one in 

 apparent comfort and good-health for over four years, con- 

 fining it in a two-quart gem jar, with wire disc in the screw- 

 cap. Thenar usually lay on its side and contained about a 

 teacupful of water which was changed every day or two, or 

 frequently enough to keep it sweet and clean. Most of the 

 time there was placed in the jar a bit of brick or wood or 

 stone for the frog to rest on. Occasionally it was allowed a 

 hop around the floor for exercise. It was fed on flies, insects, 

 and earth-worms, and when these were not easily obtained, 

 it was given a bit of fresh meat, which of course had to 



