The Spring Peeper 



rays of the late afternoon sun. The transparent inflated throat is 

 one-half as large as the frog's head and body together. It does 

 not greatly change size between the calls, but collapses at the end. 

 The frog's mouth is kept closed during the calling. 



For some time we watch him as he sings. We try to cap- 

 ture him, and get only a handful of mud for our pains. Silence 

 begins again, and spreads rapidly, till not one frog is peeping. We 

 suddenly feel the dreariness of the place, the wind blows cold 

 and it is getting dark. We retreat with the congratulatory 

 remark, " At any rate, we have seen a Peeper!" 



After we have seen one Pickering's Hyla at the marsh, it is 

 not difficult to see others, especially if we take active measures 

 and push apart the floating leaves and sticks of the shallow water. 

 More than one tiny yellow or brown frog will swim out from 

 among the leaves. Most of them will be males, since they far 

 outnumber the females. 



One of the best times to capture Pickering's tree frogs is at 

 night. During the day time they usually call from the cover of 

 moss and leaves. If we go to the marsh at night, they do not 

 seem to see or hear us, and it is not as difficult as might be sup- 

 posed to locate them by means of their inflated white throats. 

 If we do capture them, and keep them under glass for a few 

 days or weeks, we shall find them very interesting. They are 

 small, measuring one inch or less. They are very slender and 

 delicate, and unusually alert looking. The rhythmic throat move- 

 ment is rapid, more rapid than that of even the land Wood Frog, 

 The elevated eyes have the usual golden rim, whose iridescent 

 color may be so deep as to seem almost orange in tone. The 

 body is flexible; there seems to be much more movement in the 

 neck region than is usual among the frogs. The skin is soft and 

 moist and closely granular underneath. The disks on the fingers 

 and toes are distinct, but not conspicuously large as in the Com- 

 mon Tree Frog. The webs of the hind feet extend less than half 

 the length of the toes. 



The colour is usually light yellowish brown, but there is a 

 great range for variation, and the changes are relatively rapid. 

 Within an hour, frogs that were pale greyish yellow may become 

 dark wood-brown. Sometimes the brown is reddish or salmon 

 in tone. There are definite markings, which can be distinguished 

 unless the background is extremely dark. These are, first and 



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