CYSTIGNATHINAE 2 I 9 



The legs are long and the general appearance is very much like 

 that of an ordinary frog. 



One of the commonest and prettiest Brazilian species is L. 

 oceUatus, which is characterised by a number of longitudinal 

 glandular folds on the back and flanks. The colour of the 

 upper parts is olive -brown, that of the prominent folds is 

 yellowish white, interspersed with black spots. The under parts 

 are yellowish white, with blackish marblings on the throat. 

 The males have a sharp Islack spur on the inner carpal edge 

 and one on the rudiment of the thumb. Total length about 

 4 inches. 



According to Hensel ^ the spawning takes places in Eio 

 Grande do Sul after hibernation. The voice of the male is then 

 very loud, resembling the sound made by a carpenter chopping a 

 beam. They repair to ponds and produce a cup-shaped puddle, 

 about 1 foot in width, by raising a wall of mud, which 

 separates the inner water from that of the pond. The tadpoles 

 remain in this nursery until the spring-rains demolish it and set 

 the young ones free. Drought causes the drying up of these 

 water-pans and subsequent destruction of the brood. 



L. mystacinus is another Brazilian species, about 2 inches in 

 length. Its specific name refers to the dark brown stripe which 

 runs from the tip of the mouth through the eye to the tympanum. 

 This species is thoroughly terrestrial, and never enters the water. 

 It digs a cavity, the size of an ordinary tea-cup, under stones or 

 rotten trunks, always in the neighbourhood of ponds and just 

 so high above the water that the latter can rise up to the 

 nest in the rainy reason. The straw-coloured eggs are laid in 

 this cavity, and are enveloped in a foamy, sticky mass, like the 

 well-beaten white of an egg. The young tadpoles seem to live 

 on this froth until the rains set them free. When, however, the 

 rains delay and a drought kills the broods of other less circum- 

 spect species, these ■ tadpoles, still provided with gills and long 

 tails, remain in their moist nest or withdraw further beneath the 

 rotten stumps, huddled together in large numbers until the next 

 rainy season. 



Similar nursing habits have been recorded of L. alUlabris, 

 which inhabits Mexico, Cuba, and several other West Indian 

 islands. The same applies to L. typlwnius. Gundlach found eggs 

 1 Arch. Naturg. xxxiii. 1867, p. 124. 



