1909-1910-] Toads and Frogs of the Laggan District. 193 



very ingenious. They evidently could not jump out, neither 

 could they climb up the smooth flat sides of the tin, and the 

 question arose, In what other way could they escape ? Well, 

 this is how it was done. A toad retired to a corner of the tin 

 with its head in the corner, and, splaying out its feet on the 

 tin on each side of it, gradually worked its way up to the top 

 and got out over the edge. They seemed to have no diflSculty 

 in getting up the corner of the tin in this way, until they 

 reached the rim, but if it was slightly overhanging inwards it 

 proved a difficulty, and the toad would sometimes stick at that 

 point, unable to get farther, or, overbalancing itself, fall back 

 into the tin. Such failures did not deter the creature from 

 trying again, and its efforts were almost invariably crowned 

 with success. 



Toads are so easily obtained, and give so little trouble, 

 that they are worthy of more study. During winter they 

 hibernate, but in spring they are once more as active as 

 ever. Even when allowed a large amount of freedom, they 

 will, of their own accord, generally turn up at the place 

 where they were wont to be fed before their winter sleep. 



The Common Frog {Rana temjporaria). — These creatures are 

 abundant during the early part of the summer, but in Sept- 

 ember we found them exceedingly difficult to obtain. After 

 much searching, my gillie found a large and beautifully 

 marked specimen on some green pasture -land about 1250 

 feet above sea-level. I was with him at the time, and we 

 brought the creature home and put it into its tin box within 

 the house I had constructed. About half an hour later, 

 when it was beginning to get dark, I was startled by hearing 

 a loud sound, like the wild cry of some large sea-bird, just 

 across the roundel in front of the house. Tu-wheet ! tu- 

 wheet ! Tu-wheet ! tu-wheet ! It at once occurred to me 

 it must be the latest addition to my menagerie that was 

 causing the noise. So I ran downstairs to see, and found 

 a lady friend who was visiting us rather alarmed. She 

 had been working close to the open window of a sitting- 

 room when the sound began, and, seeing nothing to cause 

 or account for the weird cry, evidently thought it came 

 from something uncanny. When I reached the frog-house 

 and lifted the lid, there was Mister Froggy sitting up in 



