364 



OEDEES OF AMPHIBIANS— FEOGS AND TOADS 



position and embedded there by the male frogs. 

 Other species attach their eggs to leaves that 

 are afterward rolled together at the edges. Oth- 

 ers deposit their eggs at the bases of large leaves 

 where water collects, and some are credited with 

 placing them where they will fall into pools, to 

 be hatched there. A BraziUan species called 

 the "Smith"' constructs, at the edge of a pool, 

 a really wonderful circular wall or fortress, of 

 mud, in which its eggs are deposited. 



The Northern Tree-Frog'^ is our best and 

 most common representative of this large Fam- 

 ily. It is two inches in length, and in cloudy 

 weather, especially when storms are gathering, 

 its cheerful, bird-like call is universally regarded 

 as a harbinger of rain. It is not a high climber, 

 seldom ascending more than twenty feet from 

 the ground. Its colors match tree-bark so closely 

 it requires very sharp eyes to find it, and when 

 seen it usually is believed to be a knot. 



In croaking, its vocal sac swells to enormous 

 proportions. Mr. W. Lyman Underwood has 

 been successful in photographing this animal at 

 the instant of utterance, and his veryinteresting 

 picture is reproduced herewith. 



THE TOAD FAMILY. 



Bufonidae. 



North American toads are distinguished from 

 frogs by their rough, wart-covered backs, their 

 dull colors, large and puffy bodies, smaller hind 

 feet, shorter hind legs, lack of agility, and their 

 land-going habits. The hopping amphibians 

 which every summer shower brings out on side- 

 walks and country paths, usually are toads. Al- 

 together, there are about eighty-five species, 

 mostly tropical. The majority live upon land, 

 a few burrow into the earth, and a few live in 

 the water. There are many species so frog- 

 like that it is difficult to note the characters 

 (chiefly of internal anatomy) which distinguish 

 them. 



The Common Toad^ may stand as the rep- 

 resentative of the Toad Family of North Amer- 

 ica. The long-legged, lightly built frog leaps 

 gracefully and far; but the plethoric Toad is 

 content to wriggle or hop briefly through life. 

 Its existence depends largely upon the fact that 



' Hy'la fa'ber. ^ Hy'la ver'si-co-lor. 



* Bu'fo kn-tig-ir-no'sus. 



as yet man finds no value in it, and does not re- 

 gard it as worth killing. When Toads become 

 salable at five cents each, their extermination will 

 follow soon. 



The Toad deposits its eggs in water, in long 

 strings, and after the transformation they grow 

 so slowly that even in August the toadlets are so 

 minute that about three could sit upon a copper 

 cent. They seem more like insects than am- 

 phibians with bony skeletons. In winter, these 

 creatures hide away in the deepest crevices they 

 can find, or the cavities of hollow trees, or holes 

 in the earth, and lie dormant until spring recalls 

 them to life. 



THE BURROWING TOADS. 



Pelobatidae. 

 The Spade-Foot Toad^ of the eastern and 

 southern United States represents this large 

 Family, of which two species only are found in 

 the United States, and eighteen elsewhere. In 

 the North, it is rarely seen, and little known. 

 Personally I know nothing of it in life. Hol- 

 brook states that it is the commonest toad in the 

 South; that it digs for its burrow a small hole 

 about six inches deep, in which it lies in wait for 

 every insect that may be tempted to enter. It 

 seldom leaves its hole except in the evening, or 

 after long-continued rains. This animal is two 

 inches long, and its color is brown above, with 

 dark patches. 



THE TONGUELESS FROGS. 



Excepting the members of two small Families, 

 all frogs and toads have tongues. Of the Tongue- 

 less Frogs, one species — which is universally 

 called a "Toad" — is of special interest in illus- 

 trating a very curious feature of frog life. 



The Surinam Toad,^ of Dutch Guiana, is cele- 

 brated among naturalists all over the world 

 because of the remarkable manner in which its 

 eggs are cared for and hatched. Just previous 

 to the egg-laying period, the skin of the back of 

 the female is specially prepared by Nature for a 

 remarkable proceeding. It becomes very thick, 

 spongy and soft. The eggs are taken by the male 

 Toad, and one by one are embedded in the skin on 

 the hack of the female, so effectually that the skin 

 closes over them, and each egg becomes partially 

 • Sca-phi-o'pus hol'brook-i. * Pi'pa americana. 



