THE BATKACHIA OF NORTH AMERICA. 



285 



of an average specimeu from South Caroliua, 2 inches 10 lines; end of 

 muzzle to postorbital ridge, 9,2 lines ; of parotoid, 7 lines; fore limb, 1 

 inch 9.5 lines; hind limb, 3 inches 5 lines ; femur one-half included. 



Fig. 70. B'ufo lentiginosus mncricanus From Bd. Gird., U. S. Pac. II. R. Surv., vol. x; \. 



In this, as in other Bufones, the females are larger than the males; 

 and the latter are usually less variegated in colors. 



The B. I, americamis has been regarded by some authors as a species 

 distinct from the B. I lentiginosus] but the examination of a large number 

 of specimens of both shows that all of the distinctive characters are 

 evanescent in some individuals. Thus the superciliary crests rise pos- 

 teriorly in No. 2497 from Minnesota, so as to approximate the typical 

 Lentiginosus. In some of the specimens of No. 2v52I, from Charleston, 

 S. 0., the extremities of the crests are not more developed than in No. 

 2534, from the Platte Eiver, Nebraska. The supratympanic crest is 

 represented by an angle of the postorbital in the great majority of spec- 

 imens, but in seventeen specimens the former is quite as distinct as in 

 numerous specimens of the B. I. lentiginosus. These belong to Nos. 2481, 

 2493, 2472, 2474, 2497, 2557, 5372, and 10066, Nevertheless, it is true 

 that the subspecies B. I. americanus maintains its characters entirely 

 within the range of the B. I. lentiginosus^ as is evidenced by specimens 

 from Prairie Mer Rouge, La. (2557), Milledgeville, Ga. (9430), Monti- 

 cello, Miss., and elsewhere. 



As already described, the parotoid glands of this species are long and 

 rather narrow. A varietal form has them wider and reniform in out- 

 line. The live individuals which display this character are from north- 



