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



the middle, and with the aid of its feet it manages to keep 

 the worm in its jaws, and gradually gulps it down. 



A toad is useful in a greenhouse or frame in keeping down 

 insects, and may be even kept in a fern-case for a time ; but 

 my own experience is that in such a confined space it requires 

 to be regularly fed, and besides, is apt to do damage to the 

 plants from its burrowing propensities. I once met a gentle- 

 man from Norfolkshire who told me that his father had a 

 number of toads in separate houses, and that by whistling a 

 different call to each of them, the individual wanted would hop 

 out to be fed. He explained that they had been captured 

 when young, and some had been in captivity for years. I 

 have kept toads for many years, and my own experience does 

 not agree with that of the gentleman I have just referred to. 

 I have found these creatures vary very much in intelligence. 

 Perhaps the one thing that makes them fearless is the neces- 

 sity of having food when really hungry. Then they become 

 quite interesting and more active, and show an intelligence 

 that is surprising. But I never cared to cause them suffering 

 from want of food, and therefore I did not create the conditions 

 necessary to excite their intelligence to the highest pitch. 



It is surprising how both toads and frogs can climb. I have 

 several times put a number of toads into an ordinary garden- 

 frame, set down on flat ground that was very hard — such as a 

 garden-walk covered with gravel. The conditions were such 

 that the toads could not burrow, and the joints of the frame 

 w^ere so close that no toad could get through, as far as one 

 could see. As long as the insect-life in the frame was abun- 

 dant, they would all remain, but when that became exhausted, 

 all, or nearly all, would suddenly disappear. How they got 

 away I was never able to find out, unless they climbed up the 

 sides or corners of the frame and got out by the windows, 

 which were generally left slightly open for ventilation. I 

 found that my collection in the Great Caledonian Glen were 

 all quite able to climb up the smooth sides of a large biscuit- 

 tin and escape into the house which I had constructed for 

 them ; but once in, they could get no farther, so they did not 

 escape. I was rather puzzled at first as to how they managed 

 the operation, so I observed them carefully by night as well as 

 by day, and soon found out their modus operandi^ which was 



