190 Toads and Frogs of the Laggan District. [Sess. 



I began by having a house constructed with a roof that 

 lifted like a lid, so that I could, observe my collections. The 

 front of the house was open, with wire-gauze nailed over it. 

 Inside I placed a number of large biscuit-tins. I lined the 

 bottom of these with sphagnum to the depth of about three 

 inches. I found this arrangement to suit admirably, and it 

 was astonishing in how short a time the toads and frogs 

 became quite tame and fed out of our hands. In fact, my 

 family and I became much attached to them, and it was with 

 regret we gave them up when the time came for handing some 

 of them over to the Eoyal Scottish Museum authorities. The 

 others, having served our purpose and given us our lesson, we 

 allowed to go free. 



The Common Toad is very plentiful in the district, and if 

 coloration and habits are to be depended upon, I should say 

 there are two distinct varieties of these creatures about Laggan, 

 probably Bufo viridis and Bitfo calamita. The one is the usual 

 form, with its skin dark and warty. It was found among the 

 heather, in boggy places on the moor, and after rain was to be 

 seen in large numbers about the public road. The other is 

 olive-green in colour, with fewer warts upon its skin, and 

 mostly frequented the meadows, but was found also in small 

 numbers at the edge of the heather and beside the public road. 

 I drew the attention of the Museum authorities to these differ- 

 ences, but they seemed to think that all the toads belonged to 

 one species. Possibly they are right, as I found that in con- 

 finement and in the darkness of their house there seemed a 

 tendency for the olive-green toads to get darker in colour. 

 However, I am not quite sure in my own mind whether we 

 had two distinct varieties of this creature or only one. It has 

 been recorded that toads found embedded in crevices of rock, 

 when discovered, are pale in colour, but rapidly get darker 

 when exposed to the atmosphere. From such an observation 

 it seems evident these creatures have some power of adapting 

 their coloration to their immediate surroundings. 



Most people have an aversion to toads, and when I have 

 been handling them on the hillside I have had, on more than 

 one occasion, a man expostulate with me for risking my life in 

 such a way, and call out and shudder, expecting dire results 

 from my supposed foolhardiness. I once had a large black 



