ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



A TOAD FROM SOITII AMKRICA, UVFi) MnLirilR 



SOME RARE AMPHIBIANS. 

 By Raymond L. Ditmars. 



FOR years past the Reptile House has been 

 noted as a building of silent inmates. 

 Days might pass when the only sounds 

 were tlie splashing of the alligators or an occa- 

 sional bull-like bellow from these great reptiles. 

 The Reptile House has changed its aspect in 

 now sheltering quite a number of more cheerful 

 voiced inmates. These are the toads and frogs, 

 and to this collection we lately have added a 

 number of rare and particularly interesting spe- 

 cies. The greater number of these have never 

 been exhibited alive in the United States. The 

 noisv members of this collection are mostly tree 

 toads, and each species has a characteristic and 

 markedly different note. 



Eor about three years we have been steadily 

 building up a series of amphibians until the 

 Reptile House has now one of the best collec- 

 tions on exiiibition in the world. Our visitors 

 are always especially interested in investigating 

 the contents of many small, attractively labelled 

 cages, and it is under sucli conditions only that 

 tlic small amphibians necessarily can be main- 

 tained. Keeper Richard Deckert has devoted 

 mucli time and study to these neglected but fas- 

 cinating creatures, and has for some time been 



working on a carefully studied article for Zoo- 

 logica which will embrace observations on our 

 more important specimens. 



At the present time there are thirty-seven 

 cages of amphibians — frogs, toads, salamanders 

 and newts — on exhibition in the Park, and about 

 seventy species of the amphibians are repre- 

 sented. An interesting list of the species on ex- 

 hibition at the close of tiie year 191 i appeared 

 in the Xiiietcenth Annual Report on pages 85, 

 86 and 87. 



New to our collection is the huge White Tree 

 Toad, of Australia, which attains a bodj^ length 

 of five inches. The species is particularly in- 

 teresting on account of its peculiar call which 

 resembles the barking of a small dog. and is 

 repeated twenty times or more. The creature 

 is of a vivid and uniform leaf green with enor- 

 mously dilated disks or suckers upon fingers and 

 toes. It consequently has unusual clinging pow- 

 er, and tlie keepers in changing tiiese toads from 

 one cage to another must use great care not to 

 injure the delicate animals in loosening tlieir 

 hold. Contrary to the iiabits of tree toads gen- 

 erally, this one is a very confiding creature and. 

 when once freed from a branch to which it has 

 been clinging, appears to have no objection to 

 being handled and will contentedly settle down 



