BIRD PARADISE 173 



One of the interesting dwellers in our fields is 

 the grass frog. They make their appearance in 

 the month of September, at least that is the sea- 

 son in which I am pretty sure to interview them. 

 Crossing the field the other day I was given the 

 opportunity to shake hands with several of them 

 and found real pleasure in making the best of 

 the occasion. The largest of the company was 

 full grown, and when I put htm to the test he 

 easily compassed five or six feet in one jump. 

 His bright green coat was trimmed in frog fash- 

 ion, and when the sunbeams held him in their 

 embrace the fellow shone almost lamp-like in 

 the thick dried grass. No other creature is less 

 offensive in appearance or manners. The eyes 

 were altaost brilliant and I fancied that the fel- 

 low was really proud of his personal appearance. 

 He verified an old saying, that no one could tell 

 which way or how far a frog would jump by his 

 looks. The smallest one I saw was a youth just 

 launched on the sea of life. His experience in 

 caring for himself was certainly limited and yet 

 he made a real success of the venture. Alone in 

 the great world he surely was, but nothing in his 

 manner showed the least sign of any hesitation 

 about assuming all the duties of life. In the 



