SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



67 



A DOMESTICATED FROG-. 



By Evan B. Jetjne. 



/"ANE of the most interesting inmates of a well- 

 ^S ordered Queensland home is what is known 

 as the " Green Frog," probably so called because 

 he is not a frog at all, but a toad, and as he is 

 green or not, at discretion. As a rule, he assumes 

 the colour of whatever he is sitting upon. On 

 weather-boards he makes himself a dull grey ; on a 

 passion- vine he takes the shade of green in fashion 



IE. B. Jeun," 



Australian " Tree-Frog." 



at the moment ; and to show what he really can do, 

 he occasionally puts on a jacket with light blue 

 spots, as did the subject of the accompanying 

 portrait when he gave me a sitting. 



The usual verandah passion-vine attracts the 

 green frogs, they attract the snakes, and when 

 opportunity occurs man is attracted to slay the 

 snakes and save the lives of the frogs ; so the circle 

 of fitness is complete. 



When there has been a drought which has lasted 

 for two years, and the whole country smells of 

 death and decay, when the sky is as of hot brass, 

 and the earth dust, then the poor squatter, sitting 

 with head bowed down by despair, hears the 

 joyous warning of the coming rain. It comes first 

 from his friend the green frog, hidden away in the 

 shingles, or underneath the tank-stand. It is he who 

 gives one sudden long " cru-u-u-ck," and in three 

 days it rains. How he knows no one can tell, but 

 he knows of the coming storm. 



Froggy can take the conceit out of the musician 

 in the midst of a ballad or " piece " better than 

 any critic. He has during the overture been creep- 

 ing quietly up the back of the piano, and then, like 

 a flash, springs with cold stomach and sticky toes 

 on to the fair arm of the performer. 



It is heartrending to hear the scream he utters 

 when the lithy carpet-snake has secured him for 

 dinner, or when with bare foot one steps on him 

 on getting out of bed in the dark. One generally 

 makes a fairly loud scream oneself when this 

 happens. 



Froggy shares the " homing " instinct with the 

 carrier-pigeon, and when he takes up his abode in 

 the cool china vase which your wife particularly 

 wants for that spray of bougainvillea, you throw 

 him out in the garden, upon which he makes 

 scathing remarks about your hospitality. But 

 next morning you see again his old nose over the 

 edge of his jar. You can repeat the performance 

 as often as you like, but he will return. To see 

 what really could be done, I once took the original 

 of the accompanying photographs and tied a little 

 bit of wool to his leg. I then put him into a 



Photo htj~\ 



Australian " Tree-Frog." 



paper bag, which was twisted round and round 

 whilst I carried him four hundred yards away, 

 finally depositing him in the middle of some sugar- 

 canes. This was about three o'clock in the after- 

 noon. At seven o'clock the next morning I entered 

 the room where was the jar, and found him at 

 home again, tired, thin, and carrying a mass of 

 cobbler's-peg ' seeds on his woollen garter. I then 

 made out the title-deeds of the flower-vase in his 

 favour. He enjoyed his freehold until I left the 

 place a year afterwards. 

 Lynmoutli, North Devon. 



[The so-called " tree-frogs " are really arboreal 

 toads. They are generally of the family Hylidae, 

 the South European "tree-frog" being Hyla 



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