206 NATURAL HISTORY. 



ilar purpose. Like the tongue of that animal, it is dart- 

 ed out and returned with such velocity, in catching in- 

 sects, that we must be very quick of sight to see the 

 thing done. Even the nimble Fly that comes near to the 

 lazy Toad is not quick enough to escape its tongue. 



342. The chief families in this order are, 1. The Rani- 

 dae, or Frogs. 2. The Bufonidae, or Toads. 3. The Sala- 

 inandridae, or Salamanders. 4. The Sirenidae, or Sirens ; 

 and, 5. The Apoda, or Footless Amphibia. 



343. The Frogs, although good swimmers, and found 

 in the neighborhood of water, pass most of their time on 

 land, catching insects with their tongues. They have 

 teeth in the upper jaw. Their hind legs are long, and 

 they are therefore good at leaping. The noisy Bull-frog 

 is found only in North America. It lives on fish and 

 snakes as well as insects. The Edible or Green Frog 

 abounds in Europe, and is thought much of as an article 

 for the table. In some places it is fattened in " frogger- 

 ies" for this purpose. The Tree Frogs are arboreal, as 

 their name indicates. To enable them to retain their 

 position easily as they leap about among the branches, 

 their toes have little suction pads, similar to those of the 

 Geckos ( 325), which, to make them the more efficient, 

 are always covered with a glutinous secretion. Like the 

 common Frogs, they breed in the water, and bury them- 

 selves in the mud for their winter's sleep. 



344. The Toads have no teeth in the upper jaw as the 

 Frogs do. They have also shorter legs, and therefore 

 have less power of leaping. The skin has wart-like pro- 

 jections, from which an acrid fluid is secreted. The Su- 

 rinam Toad, which is put by some into a separate family, 

 is a very singular animal. It has no tongue, and its hind 

 feet are webbed. It is found in dark corners about 

 houses in Guiana and Surinam. Its eggs are hatched in 

 a curious way. The male places them in little pits on 

 the back of the female, each pit having a lid ; and, when 

 hatched, the little Toads, lifting the lids, hop out. There 



