WATER-FROGS AND TREE-FROGS 



303 



most numerous companies, and is one of the most 

 cheerful and industrious croakers we know. 

 Sometimes its cry becomes almost a warble ; and 

 when about fifty voices are raised in tuneful 

 chorus from the surface of one small pond, each 

 one trilling and piping at the rate of sixty to 

 the minute, without missing a note, the effort is 

 certain to attract attention, in case there is any 

 to be bestowed. 



This species is one of the handsomest of our 

 water-frogs, and is colored to match its marshy 

 home. Its upper ground-color is a brilliant- 

 green, broken up by irregular black blotches that 

 are bordered with dull white, with dark bars 

 across the legs. The head-and-body length is 

 about 2J inches. 



The Bull-Frog 1 is known by its deep-bass 

 voice, and its great size when adult. Beside 

 the preceding species, this creature is a giant, 

 and it is small wonder that the eyes of epicures 

 rest covetously upon its massive thighs. Its 

 upper color varies from bright green to dark olive- 

 brown, marked with small and rather inconspic- 

 uous dark spots. Its length varies from 5 to 8 

 inches, and it is so well known that further de- 

 scription is unnecessary. 



As an indication of the extent to which frogs' 

 legs are consumed as food in the United States, 

 the latest statistics of the United States Fish 

 Commission are interesting. In 1899, the total 

 quantity of frog meat recorded in the markets 

 was 472,415 pounds, valued at $74,690. The 

 following were the chief sources of the supply : 



Pounds. Worth. 



Missouri 237,60S $29,313 



Arkansas 79,760 10,162 



California 20,687 20,638 



In 1895, New York handled 69,774 pounds, 

 valued at $6,572. 



The Wood-Frog 2 is not often found without 

 specially seeking it. In the spring, when you 

 are searching for early flowers, and are startled 

 by seeing a small dead leaf suddenly take life 

 and leap about four feet, you may know that it 

 is one of these small creatures. It is only 1J 

 inches long, being next in smallness to the tree- 

 frog. Although for a frog so small it can leap a 

 very long distance, its strength is soon exhausted, 

 and its final capture is easily made. 



1 Ra'na cates-bi-an'a. 2 Ra'na syl-val'i-ca. 



THE TREE-FROG FAMILY. 



Hylidae. 



If tree-frogs were of great rarity, and inhabited 

 only one remote island of a far-distant archipel- 

 ago, their arboreal habits would be accounted as 

 much of a wonder as the flying-frog of Borneo. 

 But being fairly abundant in the eastern United 

 States, the tree-frogs are regarded with but a 

 mild degree of interest. 



These creatures, which vary in length from 

 one inch to five inches, have been provided with 

 an opposable thumb, and a very effective suck- 

 ing disc on the end of each toe, by which they are 



NORTHERN TREK-FROG. 



Natural size. Photographed at the instant of 



croaking, and copyright, 1903, by W. Lyman 



Underwood. 



able to climb trees, and live very comfortably 

 upon their branches. Of all vertebrates that live 

 in trees, these tiny frogs are the most difficult to 

 see. Even when one is chirping boldly and cheer- 

 fully within six feet of your eyes, it is necessary 

 to look keenly in order to locate it. There are 

 few kinds of rough bark with which the colors 

 of a tree-frog do not combine with startling ac- 

 curacy. The opposable thumb, which appears 

 in frogs and tree-toads for the first time in Nat- 

 ure's ascending scale, is of great use, and in all 

 probability it is the principal factor in the arbo- 

 real life of these animals. 



In South America there are several species 

 of tree-frogs whose females carry their eggs, 

 during incubation, in pouches or cells upon their 

 backs. It is believed that the eggs are placed in 



