278 



FROGS AND TOADS. 



it remains until the insect moves ; when, by a stroke like lightning, the tongue is 

 thrown forward upon the victim, which is instantly drawn into the mouth. . . 

 When the prey is taken, it is slightly pressed by the margins of the jaws ; but as 

 this seldom kills it, unless it be a soft tender larva, it is generally swallowed alive. 

 Toads will also take earth-worms of considerable size ; and it is a curious sight to 

 watch the manner in which the powerful and writhing worm is secured. If the 

 toad happen to take it by the middle, the extremities of the worm are twined with 

 great force and activity around the muzzle of its captor in every direction, in its 

 attempts to escape ; but the toad pushes one portion after another into its mouth, 

 by means of the fore-feet, until it all disappears, when it is swallowed whole." 

 The eggs of the toad differ from those of the frog in that, instead of forming an 

 irregular mass with their enclosing jelly, they are arranged in a regular, double, 

 and alternating series in the form of a string, which may be a yard or more in 

 length. These strings are generally deposited in the water about a fortnight later 

 than the spawn of the frog ; and it is not till autumn that the young toads com- 



Green Toad. 



MEXICAN SHARP-NOSED TOAD (nat. Size). 



plete their metamorphosis, and forsake the water. From that of the frog, the 

 tadpole of the toad is distinguished by its smaller size and blacker colour. 



The green toad (Bufo viridis) of Europe, Asia, and Northern 

 Africa, is a far handsomer species, distinguished by the presence of a 

 fold on the ankle, and likewise by the simple structure of the tubercles on the lower 

 surface of the toes of the hind-foot. There is likewise a vocal sac beneath the throat 

 of the male, which is wanting in the common toad. The upper-parts carry a number 

 of irregular, flattened, and porous warts ; and the glands behind the eyes, although 

 sometimes enormously developed, are generally of moderate size and more or less 

 kidney-shaped. The colour is olive or greenish above, generally spotted or 

 marbled with a darker shade, although occasionally nearly uniform ; while the 

 under-parts are either uniformly whitish, or whitish with dark spots. 



Natterjack A third European species, which, unlike the last, is locally 



Toad. represented in England, is the natterjack toad (B. calamita), 



easily recognised by the yellow or whitish line running down the middle of the 



back. From both the preceding it is distinguished by the much smaller extent of 



