ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1051 



ium. An illustrated account of it will be 

 found in the Bulletin for March, 1910. 

 The two Atlantic species are approaching 

 extinction, but there is hope for the preser- 

 vation of the Pacific species. 



HAWAIIAN SEAL {Monachus schaiiinslawdi) 

 Pearl and He)mes Reef 



the Hawaiian group. In recent years they 

 have been far from abundant, but a few have 

 been reported from Laysan, Lisiansky, Pearl 

 and Hermes Reef and occasionally from 

 Midway Island. In 1912 the U. S. S. Thetis 

 brought back a seal skin from Pearl and 

 Hermes, which was presented to the Bishop 

 Museum in Honolulu. It is possible that if 

 not interfered with these seals may increase 

 in numbers. Seals have never been reported 

 from any of the small islands to the south, 

 east and west of Hawaii. Pearl and Hermes 

 Reef seem to have been the place where they 

 were most abundant. A stray specimen has 

 been recorded from the coast of Hawaii. One 

 correspondent states that 'a few seals came 

 ashore at Laysan during the winter months. 

 As both of my visits to Laysan were in 

 April, that may account for the fact that we 

 did not see any.' " 



Some years ago these islands were actively 

 exploited by Japanese bird hunters and such 

 numbers of sea birds were killed for their 

 feathers that they were almost depopulated 

 of bird life. In 1909 President Roosevelt 

 set aside all of this chain of islands and reefs 

 as a preserve and breeding ground for 

 native birds and it is now known as the 

 Hawaiian Islands Reservation. Interesting 

 government reports have been made on the 

 remarkable bird life which is to be seen there, 

 but they are lacking in information on seal 

 life, probably because the expeditions confined 

 their attention to the more accessible islands 

 where birds are numerous, and overlooked 

 the low reefs occupied by the seals and where 

 navigation is dangerous. 



The West Indian species of Monachus was 

 formerly exhibited at the New York Aquar- 



WORMS AND TOADS AFTER HEAVY 

 RAINS 



THE Aquarium as a public museum gets 

 its full share of inquiries from the public 

 on points in natural history. The 

 following letter was sent by the Director to 

 a young lady who wished to know if there 

 .was any truth in the statement that toads 

 and earthworms were sometimes "rained 

 down." 



"The earthworm exists every where in culti- 

 vated ground and lawns in abundance. Heavy 

 rains flood their burrows and make them 

 uncomfortable, so they get out. They go 

 back when the ground dries. Anglers some- 

 times get worms wdthout digging, by empty- 

 ing a tub of water somewhere in the garden. 



"Toads, which are dry land animals, lay 

 their eggs in water just as frogs do. You 

 can easily tell the toad spawn which is laid 

 in strings, from the frog spawn which is laid 

 in masses. Toad eggs hatch into long-tailed 

 tadpoles just as frog's eggs do, and stay in 

 water just as long. Early in summer they 

 change into tiny toads as their gills and tails 

 are absorbed and lungs and legs are developed. 



"They abandon the water life on cool nights, 

 and as long as they remain tender baby toads, 

 have to hide away from daytime heat and 

 dryness. A long dry spell forces them to 

 remain under sidewalks, woodpiles, buildings, 

 rubbish, leaves, and other cool and damp 

 places to keep alive. But they don't enjoy 

 it, so when there is a downpour they all come 

 out at once, hungry and eager for a wetting, 

 and go hopping everywhere. 



"I once saw this happen near the Monument 

 in Washington after a dry spell following the 

 tadpole hatching in June. All of the baby 

 toads that had been coming out of the ponds 

 every night and hiding away, suddenly 

 appeared in such numbers during a rainstorm 

 that it was almost impossible to avoid tread- 

 ing upon them. 



"When folks tell you that toads rain down, 

 advise them to read up on natural history. 

 There is no excuse for ignorance on such simple 

 matters." 



