95 



RANA SYLVATICA. 



Plate XV. 



Characters. Body above pale ^eddish-bro^^^^, beneath yellowish-white; head 

 with a very dark brown stripe, extending from the snout through the eye, and 

 including the tympanum. 



Synonymes. Rana sylvatica, Leconte, Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y., vol. i. p. 282. 

 Rana Pennsylvanica, Harlan, Silliman's Journal, vol. x. p. 60. 

 Wood Frog, Vulgo. 



Description. The superior surface of this Frog is of a pale reddish-brown 

 colour, with a slight tinge of green. The head is small, narrow and pointed. 

 A very dark brown stripe, narrow before and broader behind, begins at the 

 snout and extends to near the shoulder, including the nostrils, the pupil, the 

 inferior half of the eye, and the tympanum: below this dark vitta is a yellowish- 

 white line, extending to the shoulder: a black spot is usually present at the base 

 of the anterior extremities. The upper jaw is bronzed, and mottled with dark 

 brown; the lower is nearly white, having only a few black spots. The nostrils 

 are placed nearer the point of the snout than in R. halecina. The eyes are large, 

 tlie pupil is black, and oval in shape; the iris is very dark brown below, but the 

 portion above the pupil is golden. The tympanum is small, and very dark brown. 



The back is pale reddish-brown, with two elevated longitudinal yellow lines, often 

 interrupted with black spots, extending from the orbit to the posterior extremity 

 of the body. The flanks below these lines are mottled in front, greenish-white in 

 the middle, and yellow near the thighs. The inferior surface is silvery-white at 



