20 



mUch smaller. The discs are large and conspicuous and the 

 abdomen and thighs are covered with fine granulations. 



The eggs are laid in masses containing from four to ten, and 

 hatch in a few days. The tadpoles are active as soon as 

 hatched and omit the clinging stage, at once swimming about 

 in search of food. 



Hyla versicolor Le Conte. 

 Common Tree-Toad. 

 , This frog is common from British America to Florida and 

 Texas, and is frequently found in orchards and on trees about 

 dwellings. Their cry is a loud, coarse trill, and is thought by 

 many to be a precursor of rain. They are more apt to cry 

 during damp weather, but often may be heard for hours at a 

 time when no rain has been seen in days. I have taken them 

 from the ground in a hot day in July, when others were heard 

 at the tops of tall trees near by. It is said that the Germans 

 keep the European tree-frog captive so as to know when to go 

 to picnics, but ours is unreliable so far as generally observed. 



On the 30th of May, I captured over forty among the wil- 

 lows bordering the pond at Nordhoff , where they kept up an 

 incessant clamor. A week later not one was to be found and I 

 set this as the time of their repairing to the water to breed. 

 In summer one will often be seen crouching along an old fence 

 rail, resembling in color the lichens which there abound. 

 The} r possess in a remarkable degree the power of ' ' color- 

 change," varying from brown or ashy white to gray and 

 green. 1 There are several blotches, one prominently sub-cru- 

 ciform. 



Body stout and thick. Eyes large and prominent. Skin 

 warty and coarse. Prominent fold across breast. The feet 

 are more or less webbed, the hinder membranes extending to 

 the discs. Broad discs on fingers and toes. These and parts 

 of the abdomen of tree-frogs secrete a slime or mucus which 

 enables them to cling to smooth, vertical surfaces. 2 



1 The color of upper layer of skin is light and changes are produced by 

 introduction of darker color-bearing cells from below. 



2 The discs are not suctorial organs as commonly believed. 



