IJAHITS OF BRITISH FROOS AND TOADS. 21 



result that the breeding-season is lii-oken up into two or three 

 j^eriods within a couple of months. When the first appearance 

 of mild weather is much retaided, the spawning takes place for 

 all individuals within a very few days, with an ensemble which is 

 not customary for the species in our uncertain climate. 



The Natterjack Toad does not undertake lengthy migrations 

 for the purpose of depositing its eggs. It usually lives in 

 colonies in sandy localities, such as dunes on the sea-coast, sand- 

 quarries, heath-land, etc., which must be in close proximity to 

 at least some sort of shallow pool, even of an intermittent kind. 

 This toad shows not the slightest disciimination in the choice 

 of water, and will not move any distance in search of better 

 conditions if only it can find close by a little water in side ditches 

 or even in cart-ruts of a road, whilst an excellent pond may be 

 available a hundred yards off. The development of the eggs and 

 larvae, it is true, is much more rapid than that of earlier breeders 

 like the Common Frog and the Common Toad, but nevertheless, 

 in some places, a great many broods are destroyed through want of 

 foresight on the part of the mother. Should, however, the pools or 

 ponds in which the Natterjack is accustomed to breed, and around 

 which it has settled, disappear for good, by the agency of man 

 or otherwise, the whole colony will move off after a time to a 

 more suitable locality. This I have observed in sand -quarries in 

 Belgium and France, some of which are provided with stagnant 

 water whilst others are not ; those which have no water or from 

 which the water has disappeared for a year or two, are without 

 Natterjacks at all times of the year, thus showing that this 

 gregarious Batrachian only settles down in such places as will 

 afford a site for spawning within a few yards, whilst half a mile's 

 journey is nothing to a Common Toad, It may also be mentioned 

 that the Nattei-jack, in common with the Palmated Newt, has no 

 objection to brackish water and is thei'efore often found in great 

 abundance in close proximity to the sea. The greatest number I 

 have ever seen was on the little ile de Bast, opposite Boscoff, on 

 which, for the I'eason that the pools are brackish, neither frogs 

 nor the common toad exist. 



The Natterjack has no such re.stricted breeding-season as our 

 other Tailless Batrachians. The females do not go to the water 

 until ready to spawn, and the time at which the ova descend into 

 the oviducts varies according to individuals, from between the 

 middle of April to the beginning of July, somietimes even later. 



The Common Toad, on the other hand, is remarkable for the 

 fixity in the time at which it seeks the water for the purpose of 

 reproduction and for the shortness of the period within which all 

 the females get rid of their eggs. Exceptions of later breeders, 

 which have been observed, a-re so rare they may well be said to 

 confirm the rule. The same may be said of isolated pairs 

 occasionally found in places to which toads are not in the habit 

 of resorting to breed. 



The breeding-season in the South of England, the North of 



