200 PELOBATIDai. 



Habits. — Pelobates fu^cus is a thoroughly burrowing 

 Batrachian, spending the greater part of its existence 

 several feet below the surface of the ground, the 

 capacious lungs filled with a good provision of air ; it 

 buries itself in a nearly erect squatting posture by 

 means of the large sharp-edged horny shovels with 

 which its feet are armed, the digging being effected 

 by alternate lateral movements of the heels, inter- 

 rupted now and then for a short rest ; on sand or a 

 very loose soil less than a minute may suflSce for the 

 animal to disappear from sight, the soil falling over 

 and around it so as not to leave a trace of a burrow. 

 The English name " spade-foot," which is applied to 

 its North American representative, Scaphiopus, would 

 be a most appropriate one. Owing to these habits it 

 is only found in localities where the soil is light or 

 sandy; in cultivated districts the extensive growth of 

 asparagus is an almost infallible indication of its pre- 

 sence. In the summer months it emerges an hour or 

 two after sunset, and hopping along frog-like, sets 

 forth in search of its food, consisting of worms, slugs, 

 and all kinds of insects, esjDecially beetles. "When 

 suddenly seized it produces a dermal exudation, smell- 

 ing like garlic, and usually utters a startling shrill cry 

 much like that of a kitten, at the same time opening 

 its mouth in a defiant attitude. Some specimens 

 when repeatedly teased — pinches in the leg and light 

 pokes in the sides being the best method to employ 

 to witness the sight — can be roused to what appears 

 to be a fit of anger lasting several minutes, the animal 

 screaming in a most extraordinary manner, and jump- 

 ing madly with open mouth as if to snap at its perse- 

 cutor. The prolonged screams produced on those occa- 

 sions can only be compared, in a diminutive way, to 

 those of an infant. At the same time the lungs are 

 inflated to their utmost, and the body, swollen like a 

 ball, is raised above ground. A specimen is figured 

 in this attitude on PI. IX, right hand. These antics 

 are very similar to those performed by GeratopJirys 



