38i 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 664 



Fowleri very frequently in Granby, Connecti- 

 cut. In fact Bufo Americanus seems to be 

 very uncommon in this region. It is at once 

 evident that the range of Fowler's toad is 

 rather extended, and while I am inclined to 

 believe its southern limit is pretty nearly 

 reached in central North Carolina, from the 

 fact that I heard it only scatteringly there in 

 the Chapel Hill region, I found it very 

 abundant — segregated . in numbers during the 

 mating season, along the Maanixit Eiver from 

 Oxford to Worcester, Mass. There is no 

 reason to believe it is coniined to this valley 

 alone, however, although here it is not at all 

 uncommon. 



Dr. Stejneger, of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, recently informed me that Miss Dicker- 

 son in a recent visit to Washington identified 

 Fowler's toad as being the common species 

 here. 



One has only to visit the Fish Ponds 

 during the warm May nights, to hear num- 

 bers in chorus, and find them hopping about 

 under the electric lights almost anywhere in 

 the vicinity. 



I feel that the range of this toad will be 

 greatly extended with more careful observa- 

 tion. In my home region, Oxford, Mass., I 

 think it is the commoner toad by far, and this 

 conclusion is borne out by the relative num- 

 bers that express themselves in voice among 

 the two species. 



Bufo Americanus in this region seems 

 to prefer the smaller pools, and is often heard 

 in early April singing, singly or in small 

 colonies. Its notes are among the sweetest of 

 the springtime — mellow, musical trills, ex- 

 pressive of repose and serenity. On the other 

 hand, I have heard Bufo Fowleri only along 

 the Maanixit Eiver, and along quiet-flowing 

 streams around Worcester. In these locali- 

 ties in late June, the great chorus of Fowler's 

 toads, indicates the height of their love season. 

 Only on one or two occasions have I heard the 

 notes of a common toad mingling with those 

 of Fowler's toad at this season. 



The congregations of the different species of 

 frogs and toads in certain ponds and streams 

 at the love season have always seemed rather 

 remarkable to me. Certain ponds seem to 



have collected all of one species, while other 

 near-by ponds and mud-holes never or very 

 rarely yield a note of this same species at the 

 song season. I can not recall having heard 

 Fowler's toad in Grassy Pond, only a mile 

 from Maanixit River — a pond with every con- 

 dition one would judge favorable to this toad. 

 During all the years I spent observing 

 batrachians in this region, I found it neces- 

 sary to go several miles to the river banks to 

 hear these puzzling toads. It seems that they 

 make rather extended journeys to certain 

 favored streams at the egg-laying season. 



I have heard nothing in nature so weird 

 and unearthly as the almost agonized wail of 

 this toad, repeated at short intervals. Bufo 

 Americanus is heard as much during the 

 warm spring days as at night; Fowler's toad 

 is heard almost entirely during the earlier part 

 of the night. 



In size and coloration one can seemingly 

 separate the two toads. Bufo Fowleri is a 

 much more trim, dapper, active little fellow 

 than its relative Bufo Americanus. It ap- 

 pears less roughened and warty, and decidedly 

 more gTay in general coloration than the 

 latter. The latter toad is spotted beneath, 

 while the under parts of Bufo Fowleri are uni- 

 form grayish, the throats of the males being 

 dark. Whether or not these color distinctions 

 are always thus defined in the two forms re- 

 mains to be determined. 



Until Miss Dickerson gave Fowler's toad 

 specific rank, it was regarded as an extremely 

 local race of Bufo Americanus. It is remark- 

 able that the toad should have been ignored so 

 long, and even in localities where it is the ex- 

 tremely common form. In the lateness of its 

 mating season, and in its song. Fowler's toad 

 is totally unlike the common toad (B. Ameri- 

 canus), although comparisons in the labora- 

 tory, of preserved specimens, do not at first 

 sight show strikingly different specific char- 

 acters. It would be very interesting to deter- 

 mine definitely the relation of this toad to 

 Bufo Americanus, and the more southern 

 form {Bufo lentiginosus). H. A. Allard 



BuEEAU OF Plant Industet, 

 Washington, D. C, 

 May 24, 1907 



