CHAPTEK XVI. 

 Bull Feogs and Toad Feogs. 



Ten years or so ago, when the water-works 

 pond, near Raleigh, was drawn off for the sup- 

 posed purpose of abolishing malaria in its neigh- 

 borhood, I took some friends there to seine for 

 fish. 



Dragging the seine in the mud, we scooped 

 up a large bull-frog, the body being six or eight 

 inches long, which had evidently gone into win- 

 ter quarters deep in the mud. I knew that 

 turtle and terrapin will winter in mud at the 

 bottom of ponds and creeks, but I supposed that 

 frogs, like snakes, wintered in the earth ; taking 

 care to get below the frost line. I also know 

 that turtle will drown if netted and kept under 

 water. But how turtle and bull-frogs can pass 

 a whole winter in the wet mud beneath water, 

 without drowning, is yet a matter about which 

 I am in doubt. They must time themselves 

 pretty accurately when preparing for the long 

 sleep, to know just how soon to sink into the 



