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Bufo KalopKilus 



PAUL D. R. RUTHLIKfG 





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California Toad 



Bufo halophilus 



I 



-4 



After the winter rains and cold and 

 frosty nights, the spring sunshine 

 breaks forth in Southern California, and 

 warms the days and tempers the nights 

 with a mildness that is agreeable both 

 to man and other animals. Thus it is 

 that as the day draws to a close after a 

 refreshing collecting trip on foot in the 

 mountains, one is attracted by the hoarse, 

 rasping squawk of Bufo halophilus, as 

 this toad-philosopher sits at the shore of 

 a little pond emitting his plaintive mel- 

 ody and allowing his thoughts to turn, 

 as thoughts in springtime often will, to 

 love. 



Although one approaches quietly the 

 source of noises heard in the distance, 



the little intermittent pond of water, left 

 over from the rainy season, takes on an 

 air of quietude when one reaches its 

 shores By sitting down and watching 

 noiselessly one soon sees ripples here 

 and there. In the centers of many of 

 them, chubby old toads may be dis- 

 tinguished quietly floating after having 

 pushed themselves upwards from their 

 hiding places on the bottom. Soon they 

 kick their way to some floating log or 

 clump of weeds to which they cling as 

 they give voice to throaty notes of love. 

 Intermingled with the lower hoarseness 

 of the toads' voices may be distinguished 

 the shriller rolling peep of tree-toads 

 Concluded on page 72. 



