CYSTIGNATHINAE 



223 



Concerning the pairing and the other habits of the Auura of 

 New South "Wales we have some valiiable notes by J. J. Fletcher.^ 

 He observes that Australian frogs spawn whenever they are ready, 

 and when the very irregular conditions of moisture will allow 

 it, but that they are not all ready at the same time, i.e. they 

 have no fixed period of the year. Liinnodynastes, Hyla aurea, 

 and H. coeralea deposit their spawn in the water, in more or less 

 irregular floating patches, which look white and frothy. The 

 period extends from July to May, and is at its height in August 

 and September ; but if there is a spring-drought vigorous spa\vn- 

 ing may be looked for about the middle of January, when heavy 

 showers are likely to occur. Crinia and several JTi/la, e.g. 

 H. ewingi, spawn at any time of the year. The eggs form small 

 submerged bunches, enclosed in a transparent jelly, attached to 

 the blades of grass or twigs of dead branches in the water. 



Pseudopliryne, a genus closely resembling Crinia, but on 

 account of the absence of teeth in the lower jaw relegated to 

 the Bufonidae, spawns during the Australian summer and autumn. 

 The numerous ova of P. australis and P. iibroni are laid separately, 

 not in the water, but under stones, or in the debris of reed- and 

 grass-tussocks, on the edge of a pool. 



The larvae of Pseudopliryne and others have often to depend 

 upon the next following rain, sometimes waiting for months to 

 be released from the eggs, wherein they have so far developed. 

 But the tadpoles, once hatched, probably do not bury themselves ; 

 they either metamorphose or die. 



The males of Mixophyes and II]jla grasp the females in the 

 axillary region ; those of Liinnodynastes, Hyperolia, Crinia, and 

 Pseudophryne throw their arms round the inguinal or lumbar 

 region. 



For some three months during the winter, commencing 

 about May, the frogs, like lizards and snakes, resort to shelter 

 luider logs and stones, beneath which they are then to be met 

 with in a more or less sleepy condition. During the hot and 

 very dry periods many bury themselves in the drying-up mud, 

 which becomes very hard, and does not release them until the 

 next rains. They croak during showery times of the year. 

 There is no evidence that any Australian species live in the high 

 ^ucalyptus-tvees. 



^ Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S. W. (2), iv. 1898, p. 357. 



