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  bufonid^:. 
  

  

  The 
  breeding 
  period 
  is 
  a 
  much 
  protracted 
  one, 
  

   although 
  beginning 
  later 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  any 
  other 
  species, 
  

   the 
  edible 
  frog 
  excepted 
  ; 
  for 
  it 
  may 
  last 
  until 
  July 
  

   or 
  August, 
  or 
  even 
  September, 
  as 
  observed 
  by 
  Arthur 
  

   de 
  l'lsle 
  in 
  Brittany. 
  In 
  Belgium 
  I 
  found 
  the 
  species 
  

   breeding 
  in 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  April, 
  in 
  May, 
  and 
  in 
  June; 
  in 
  

   France 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  April 
  and 
  as 
  

   late 
  as 
  July 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  days 
  of 
  August. 
  On 
  the 
  

   coast 
  of 
  Cheshire, 
  Mr. 
  L. 
  Greening 
  has 
  observed 
  the 
  

   oviposition 
  at 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  May 
  and 
  early 
  in 
  June, 
  and 
  

   the 
  British 
  Museum 
  has 
  received 
  from 
  the 
  Warrington 
  

   Museum 
  a 
  specimen 
  from 
  Southport, 
  Lancashire, 
  

   labelled 
  as 
  having 
  spawned 
  on 
  April 
  24th, 
  1889. 
  In 
  

   Germany 
  it 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  spawn 
  from 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  April 
  

   to 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  June. 
  The 
  season 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  at 
  its 
  

   height 
  between 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  May 
  and 
  the 
  middle 
  

   of 
  June. 
  

  

  Bufo 
  calamita 
  is 
  a 
  bad 
  swimmer, 
  and 
  usually 
  resorts 
  

   to 
  the 
  water 
  only 
  at 
  night, 
  not 
  venturing 
  far 
  from 
  the 
  

   borders 
  ; 
  pairs 
  are 
  found 
  in 
  embrace 
  in 
  the 
  daytime 
  in 
  

   holes 
  on 
  the 
  banks 
  of 
  ponds 
  or 
  among 
  reeds 
  (hence 
  

   the 
  name 
  calamita, 
  from 
  calamus, 
  reed), 
  where 
  they 
  

   betray 
  their 
  presence 
  through 
  their 
  very 
  loud 
  croak, 
  ra, 
  

   ra, 
  ra, 
  consisting 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  vibrating 
  note. 
  Choruses, 
  

   audible 
  at 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  a 
  mile 
  or 
  more, 
  are 
  produced 
  

   after 
  sunset. 
  The 
  male, 
  when 
  clasping 
  the 
  female, 
  digs 
  

   the 
  closed 
  fists 
  into 
  the 
  axils, 
  like 
  the 
  common 
  toad, 
  

   but 
  the 
  embrace 
  is 
  of 
  much 
  shorter 
  duration, 
  the 
  eggs 
  

   being 
  laid 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  hours 
  during 
  the 
  night. 
  If 
  there 
  

   are 
  reeds 
  or 
  other 
  weeds 
  about, 
  the 
  ecr 
  2:- 
  strings 
  are 
  

   twined 
  round 
  them 
  ; 
  if 
  not 
  — 
  for 
  this 
  toad 
  often 
  spawns 
  

   in 
  small 
  puddles 
  without 
  vegetation, 
  or 
  in 
  roadside 
  

   ditches 
  — 
  the 
  paired 
  strings 
  are 
  simply 
  stretched 
  along 
  

   the 
  clay 
  or 
  sand 
  at 
  the 
  bottom, 
  where 
  they 
  resemble, 
  

   as 
  Heron-Royer 
  observes, 
  a 
  diminutive 
  railway. 
  The 
  

   evolution 
  is 
  rapid, 
  and 
  the 
  young 
  usually 
  quit 
  the 
  

   water 
  five 
  to 
  eight 
  weeks 
  after 
  the 
  eggs 
  have 
  been 
  

   deposited, 
  measuring 
  only 
  7 
  to 
  10 
  mm. 
  from 
  snout 
  to 
  

   vent. 
  In 
  Hardwicke's 
  'Science 
  Gossip' 
  for 
  1872, 
  

  

  