ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1545 



SPADEFOOT TOADS 



draw the spadefoot out of the ground by day- 

 light for better air^ and then it protrudes only 

 its round, sleepy head with the eyes closed, 

 looking more like a dirty red pebble than a live 

 animal. 



Its eyes, bein^ vertically pupiled like a cat's, 

 -are fitted for seeing better in the dark, and it 

 appears blinded by day. It troops forth in 

 great numbers in the springtime, however, and 

 takes to the ponds like other toads, to breed. 

 Though the spadefoot is even a trifle smaller 

 than the common toad, it is said at this time to 

 make more noise than the bullfrogs. 



For purposes of observation at home, the 

 hardy tadpoles of the spadefoot toad are most 

 interesting. The under surface being transpar- 

 •ent, reveals the beating of the heart, the long 

 intestinal coil, and nearly the whole physiology 

 of the animal, without need of dissection or 

 magnification. In a few weeks after hatching — 

 which generally occurs the day after the eggs 

 are laid — the legs, beginning with the hind 

 ones, push gradually through the skin, and the 

 tail is absorbed when the tadpoles are about 

 five weeks old. 



The pollywog eats nothing during Hhe few 

 days when its tail is being dissolved by i)lood 

 and lymph and phagocytes, for the tail^ thus 

 taken into the body serves to nourish it while 

 the little creature is losing his round, sucking 

 mouth and acquiring a new large one with teeth 

 ■in the upper jaw and otherwise getting ready 

 for the approaching, wonderfully different life 

 ■on land. His auburn jacket is exchanged for 

 a brown land coat, preparatory to assuming the 

 reddish aspect of the adult. 



Most of the tadpoles are content to wait till 

 their tails are gone before seeking the new 

 "world, but a few — about one in seven — are so 



eager for terrestrial life that they set out, tails 

 and all. 



The name spadefoot is derived from small, 

 bony protuberances on the hind feet, that are 

 thought to assist like a spade when the toad 

 burrows. A few digs with his hind feet, and 

 back he slides into the earth as though sinking 

 in quicksand. 



The eggs of the spadefoot are laid like those 

 of frogs in jelly-like clusters or masses, and 

 not in the polka-dot strings peculiar to most 

 toads. 



NEW PAINTINGS SHOWING THE 

 COLOR CHANGES OF FISHES. 



JN an article published in the Report of the 

 Zoological Society, in 1909, the director of 

 the Aquarium described the instantaneous 

 changes in color practiced by many of the trop- 

 ical fishes exhibited there. It was illustrated 

 by such photographs as it was possible to make, 

 showing the changes that take place, but these 

 were few in number and in no case presented 

 more than two or three of the color phases 

 which the fishes are capable of assuming. 



A few months ago the Executive Committee 

 provided a fund for the painting of some of the 

 species conspicuous for their changes in color 

 and markings. 



One of the fishes much given to masquerad- 

 ing in different guises is the spade fish, (Chae- 

 todipterus faber). Although without brilliant 

 colors of any kind, its three shifts from black 

 to white are very striking and are well shown 

 in the accompanying photographic reproduction 

 of Mr. Murayama's painting. The change from 

 one phase to another may occur at any moment. 



A tropical fish may exhibit all of its various 

 garbs within an hour, or may do nothing inter- 



