﻿310 
  RANIDiE. 
  

  

  near 
  London, 
  on 
  the 
  16th 
  February 
  ; 
  last 
  year 
  (1897) 
  

   on 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  month 
  : 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  the 
  

   spawning 
  time 
  varies 
  with 
  us 
  from 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  

   March 
  to 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  April, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  

   mildness 
  of 
  the 
  season, 
  whilst 
  in 
  Devonshire 
  and 
  

   Cornwall 
  it 
  may 
  begin 
  as 
  early 
  as 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  January. 
  

   The 
  individuals 
  then 
  congregate 
  in 
  large 
  numbers 
  in 
  

   ponds, 
  pools, 
  ditches, 
  or 
  slow-running 
  brooks, 
  the 
  

   males 
  clinging 
  to 
  the 
  females 
  by 
  clasping 
  them 
  under 
  

   the 
  arms, 
  the 
  hands 
  joining 
  on 
  the 
  breast, 
  at 
  the 
  same 
  

   time 
  uttering 
  their 
  dull 
  croak, 
  grook, 
  groolc, 
  which, 
  un- 
  

   like 
  the 
  edible 
  frog's, 
  is 
  produced 
  mostly 
  under 
  water. 
  

   If 
  the 
  weather 
  turns 
  cold 
  after 
  pairing 
  has 
  set 
  in, 
  the 
  

   embrace 
  may 
  last 
  for 
  many 
  days 
  ; 
  the 
  genesic 
  fury 
  of 
  

   the 
  males 
  is 
  such 
  that 
  nothing 
  will 
  induce 
  them 
  to 
  

   release 
  their 
  hold. 
  But 
  as 
  males 
  in 
  this 
  species 
  are 
  

   not 
  in 
  greater 
  numbers 
  than 
  the 
  other 
  sex, 
  we 
  

   seldom 
  witness 
  those 
  fights 
  which 
  are 
  so 
  frequent 
  

   in 
  the 
  equally 
  ardent 
  Bufo 
  vulgaris. 
  Nevertheless 
  

   they 
  also 
  often 
  make 
  mistakes, 
  and 
  clasp 
  female 
  

   toads, 
  or 
  Pelobates, 
  frequently 
  causing 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  

   the 
  latter 
  by 
  fracture 
  of 
  the 
  pectoral 
  girdle, 
  that 
  

   Batrachian, 
  as 
  we 
  have 
  described 
  above, 
  being, 
  in 
  

   legitimate 
  unions, 
  seized 
  round 
  the 
  waist, 
  not 
  under 
  

   the 
  arms. 
  That, 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  way, 
  common 
  frogs 
  and 
  

   toads 
  are 
  injurious 
  to 
  slow-moving 
  pond 
  fishes, 
  such 
  

   as 
  carp, 
  to 
  which 
  they 
  cling 
  by 
  poking 
  the 
  hands 
  into 
  

   the 
  eyes 
  of 
  the 
  fish, 
  was 
  noticed 
  by 
  Pennant 
  in 
  the 
  

   last 
  century, 
  and 
  has 
  since 
  been 
  verified 
  by 
  numerous 
  

   observers. 
  

  

  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  expelled 
  very 
  suddenly, 
  and 
  the 
  large 
  

   clumps 
  are 
  afterwards 
  seen 
  floating 
  on 
  the 
  surface, 
  

   many 
  together, 
  these 
  frogs 
  usually 
  selecting 
  the 
  same 
  

   part 
  of 
  a 
  pond 
  or 
  ditch 
  for 
  spawning. 
  Two 
  or 
  three 
  

   weeks 
  elapse, 
  as 
  a 
  rule, 
  before 
  the 
  liberation 
  of 
  the 
  

   embryo, 
  and 
  the 
  young 
  are 
  usually 
  able 
  to 
  leave 
  the 
  

   water 
  in 
  May 
  or 
  beginning 
  of 
  June, 
  except 
  in 
  the 
  

   extreme 
  north 
  and 
  high 
  up 
  in 
  the 
  mountains, 
  where, 
  

   the 
  spawning 
  season 
  being 
  necessarily 
  much 
  retarded, 
  

  

  