RANAHALECINA. 91 



the thigh, 1 inch 7 lines; of the leg, 1 inch 8 Imes; of the tarsus and toes, 2 inches 

 2 lines. 



Geographical Distribution. The Rana h&.lecina is perhaps the most widely 

 distributed of all the Frogs of the United States, and may be regarded as the 

 representative of the common Frog (Rana esculenta) of Europe. I have observed 

 it in all the Atlantic States, from the White Mountains of New Hampshire to 

 Georgia: Leconte has seen it in the south-western States; Le Sueur on the Wabash, 

 and Say even at the Lake of the Woods, in lat. 49°. 



Habits. This is a lively, active animal, leaping the distance of eight or ten 

 feet when disturbed; it feeds on insects, and is commonly found in damp places, 

 or on the margins of pools of fresh water. Bosc says it is seldom seen far from 

 water; but we have frequently met it in meadows and clover fields in search of 

 insects, at a great distance from its accustomed haunts. 



General Remarks. The histoiy of this Frog is a good deal obscured by 

 reference to very dissimilar animals in the works of Naturalists; yet by taking the 

 earlier descriptions, it may be made clear. Catesby certainly first described the 

 Rana halecina under the name Water Frog, and accompanied his description with 

 a very good figure. The next mention made of this animal is by Kalm,* a Swedish 

 traveller, an accurate observer, and excellent Naturalist, who called it the Shad 

 Frog, and believed it to be identical with the Rana ocellata of Linnseus. He has 

 described its habits, observing that it appears in Pennsylvania in the spring of the 

 year with the Shad and Herring, and hence the Swedes who settled on the Dela- 

 ware called it "Sill hoppetosser," or herring hopper; and in the Latin versiont of 

 his travels it is called R. halecina, "halec" being an Indian name for Shad or Herring. 

 Linnseus:]; probably considered the R. halecina, from Kalm's description of it, as 



* Kalm's Travels in North America, Forster's translation, vol. ii. p. 8S. 



titer Anier., torn. iii. p. 46, quoted by Daudin, Hist. Nat. des Rept., tom. viii. p. 112. 



:[ Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 356. 



