REPTILIA — FROG. ..TOAD. 713 



THE EDIBLE FROG,i 



Which is considerably larger than the common species, is rare in England, 

 but is abundant in Italy, France, and Germany, where its hind quarters are 

 looked upon as a delicacy. It is of an olive green hue, marked with black 

 patches on its back, and on its limbs with black transverse bars. 



THE TREE FROG. 2 



The tree frog is small, slender, and elegantly made; green in all the 

 upper parts, whitish in the abdomen, and reddish on the under surface of the 

 limbs. In summer it resides principally on the upper branches of trees, 

 where it feeds on insects, which it catches very dexterously. It is remarka- 

 ble for its power of absorbing water. It is found in France, Germany, and 

 Italy, and other European countries, and in various parts of America, but 

 not in Great Britain. 



THE TOAD. 3 



As the toad bears a general resemblance in figure to the frog, so also it 

 resembles that animal in its nature and appetites. When, like the frog, 

 these animals have undergone all the variations of their tadpole state, they 

 forsake the water, and are often seen in a moist summer's evening, crawling 

 up, by myriads, from fenny places, into drier situations. There, having 



' Rana esculenta, Lin. 



^ Hijla arborea, Lis. The srenus Hrjl a has the body slightly compressed, elongated, 

 smooth ; tongue short and thick ; the two fore feet furnished with four toes, the hinder 

 with five, all without claws, but terminated by lenticular tubercles ; male with a gular 

 pouch, capable of inflation. 



3 Bufo ru!ffaris, Lin. The genus Bufo has the body thick, short, and broad, covered 

 above with warts or papilla", which exude a fetid fluid ; a thick projection behind the ears; 

 no teeth; eyes large and protuberant ; fore feet with four toes separate ; hind feet short, 

 with five toes, generally pahnated. 



90 60* 



