102 Trans. Acad. Sci. of St. Louis. 



a few of its remarkable leaps, swims vigorously a few 

 strokes, and buries itself at the bottom of the pond. The 

 name Cricket Frog was given to it, on account of its 

 song, which bears a strong resemblance to the chirping of 

 the black cricket. These tiny frogs sing in chorus in 

 spring. The sound can be imitated by striking together 

 two pebbles or two marbles, beginning slowly and continu- 

 ing more rapidly for thirty or forty strokes. The male 

 frog is the singer and in doing so inflates his yellow throat 

 enormously. The Cricket Frogs are easily discovered while 

 singing, because they do not hide under moss and grass, 

 like the Pickering Tree Frog, but swell their throats while 

 in full view on some water plants. The first warm days 

 in early spring brings them out. Feb. 14, 20; Mar. 5; 

 May 1; Sept. 7; Oct. 16. 



Miss Mary C. Dickerson in the ''Frog Book" gives the 

 following account of their breeding habits: — ''Their 

 chorus is loudest in late April and early May, and it is 

 then that the eggs are laid, attached to grass blades or 

 leaves in the water. At this time the Swamp Tree Frog 

 chorus has disbanded and the Pickering's Hyla is singing 

 only at night. 



"The development of this frog is less rapid than that of 

 the Common Tree Frog, the Eastern Wood Frog, or the 

 American Toad. The tadpoles may be found in the water 

 as late as August. The final transformation takes place 

 in September. The young tree frogs — as well as the older 

 ones — seek shelter from the cold under stones and leaves 

 at the margins of their brook or marsh. However, they 

 have no long-continued hibernation, but renew their ac- 

 tivity whenever the sun is warm or the south winds blow. ' ^ 



Genus chorophilus. 



Digital disks all small, but the phalanx with a strong claw. Fingers 

 free from web. Toes with little or no web. Vomerine teeth present. 

 Tongue round or oval, slightly notched behind. Tympanic disk dis- 

 tinct. Sacral vertebra with its transverse process slightly expanded. 



