90 



Batraciiians.- 



-EEPTILES.- 



-Bateachians. 



viridis) — Plate 1, fig. 1 — is rather larger than our 

 Common fr ig. It varies very much in colour, accord- 

 ing to the locality in wliich it is found. In general the 

 upjier parts of the body are of a beautiful green tint, 

 irregularly marked with brown or blackish spots or 

 patches of nearly equal size, the limbs being marked 

 transversely with bands of the same colour. It differs 

 from the preceding species in wanting the dark mark 

 extending from the back of the eye to the shoulder, and 

 in having three distinct narrow bands, of a tine golden 

 yellow, running down along the back. The male is dis- 

 tinguished by having a vocal sac on each side, behind 

 the angle of the mouth. When filled with air in the 

 act of croaking, tliey become large and globular, stand- 

 ing out, one on each side of the head. The Edible 

 frog is essentially aquatic in its habits. It is found 

 in running .streams as well as in stagnant waters ; in 

 rivers as well as in ponds ; in marshes, ditches, and 

 even the smaller pools of standing water. It seldom 

 comes to land, and never remains far from the banks 

 of streams or ponds, but throws itself precipitately into 

 the water the moment it hears any noise, nor does it 

 expose itself again until certain that all danger is past. 

 In general it is in muddy places where reeds and other 

 aquatic plants grow, that this frog is found ; and there 

 ■either lying motionless on the surface of the water, or 

 perched on some aquatic plant, as water lilies, &c., it 

 ponrs forth during most of the summer season the tnost 

 intolerable croakings. The female, which wants the 

 vocal sacs, produces more of a groaning kind of noise, 

 but the croak of the male is exceedingly powerful, from 

 the air which it forces into these sacs causing a great 

 vibration in them ; and they croak by day as well as 

 by night. As the name imports, it is this species 



which is eaten on the Continent. In France it is 

 the Common frog ; and (here, and in other parts of 

 Europe, a considerable consumption takes place an- 

 nually. In Vienna, it is said, they are fattened up for 

 sale, and kept in preserves called Froggeries (Grenouil- 

 lieres), constructed for the express purpose. The food 

 of this species, like that of the preceding, consists of 

 insects, small aquatic mollusca, and worms, provided 

 they bo alive and in motion. They are voracious 

 creatures, and may be taken during the heats of sum- 

 mer by a line baited with a piece of scarlet cloth, 

 which is kept in motion so as to give it the appearance 

 of a living creature. They are also captured by a lino 

 having a round ball of bread or dough attached to it 

 and put in motion. Being suddenly swallowed, before 

 the animal has time to open its mouth to permit the 

 bait to be rejected, a sudden jerk of the line lands it 

 on the bank. The Edible frog has a wide range ; it 

 is found throughout the greater part of Europe ; in 

 Northern Africa, in Persia, China, and Japan. Its 

 existence as a British species, however, has only been 

 very lately recorded. It was first, we believe, made 

 known as a denizen of our isle by Mr. F. Bond, who 

 published a short notice of its capture in Cambridge- 

 shire in the Zoologist, in 1843. It was found by a 

 friend of his in Foulmire Fen, and was then thought 

 to be very rare. Subsequently, however, Mr. Bond 

 found them in considerable abundance, and describes 

 the male as having, when croaking, " two large blad- 

 ders, one on each side of the mouth, which give it a 

 very curious appearance." He expresses his surprise 

 that they were never seen before, their croaking being 

 so very dilTerent from that of the Common frog ; " the 

 sound," he says, " is more of a loud snore, exactly like 



Bull Frog (Itana mugiens). 



that of the barn owl {Strix flammca). The whole fen 

 was quite in a charm with their song!" lie further 

 reniarks that it is a very timid animal, disappears on 

 the least alarm, and is not very easy to catch. Pro- 

 fessor Bell, in the same work {Zoologist), says, the 



croaking of this frog is so loud and shrill as to have 

 obtained for them the name of " Cambridgeshire 

 Nightingales," and " Whaddon organs!" In a later 

 number of this journal (1849), Mr. Doubleday of Epping 

 is said to have turned out some specimens of this 



