THE COMMON TOAD. 123 



it to be a worm, and would regard it with stupid astonish- 

 ment when they discovered their mistake. 



I never had the good fortune to see my friends take beetles 

 or other small prey ; but these the gardener told me were 

 never seized with the mouth, but were caught with unerring 

 aim upon the point of the long tongue.* 



There is a curious twitching movement of the 

 hind toes observable in the toad whilst watching 

 an insect which he purposes making its prey. 

 This movement has been noticed to us by several 

 persons who have kept toads in confinement, or 

 closely watched their habits. 



Mr. G. Guyon, of Ventnor, has kindly com- 

 municated to us some additional particulars of 

 the behaviour of these reptiles under confinement. 

 There are two or three features in his letter so 

 curious, and the whole so interesting, that we 

 think no apology is needed for introducing it 

 entire. 



My toads are sufficiently tame to sit quietly on the hand 

 while carried to the window, and there snap up the flies which 

 they are held within reach of, and in this way I often cleared 

 my sitting-room of these troublesome insects during last 

 summer. Indeed the notion occurred to me of constructing 

 a sort of cage of wire-work, and suspending it in the centre 

 of the room, as is done with the so-called " Fly-catcher," 

 believing that the enclosed toad would be willing to make 

 himself useful by appropriating the flies that settled on the 



* Hardwicke's Science Gossip, vol. i. p. 62. 



