216 Marsh. 



usual find it quite a home for beetles and other insects. But 

 what is that waddling away there ? Off we go, and in a 

 moment splash into the ditch goes a toad. There's another ! 

 Not so fast, my good friend. I've got you now. We don't 

 see many of your relatives here, although there must be a 

 great number of you. We know, however, how fond you 

 are of hiding away during the day, and of coming out to hunt 



FIG. 47. COMMON TOAD (Bufo vuJgaris). 



for beetles by night. You look very plump, too, much 

 happier, in fact, than your friend the frog. Ah ! here is a 

 pool, in which we may be able to learn a great deal about 

 your antecedents, Mr. Bufo Vulgaris. There is one on the 

 mud near the edge, poking its head inquiringly out of the 

 shallow water in which its body is immersed, whilst the 

 whole corner here appears to be one seething mass of toad- 

 tadpoles. A black, wriggling mass, apparently scarcely 



