CHAPTER II. 



THE CROAKERS. 

 Familiar Members of the Tribe Rana. 



We have already considered the soloists of the 

 batrachian orchestra, and now the musicians who 

 represent the 'cello and the bass viol must engage 

 our notice. A hundred croaking voices reach our 

 ears from the vicinity of the frog pond, and many of 

 them possess a distinct individuality. The "croaks" 

 are not all alike : there is the basso profundo of the 

 bulKrog, the barytone of the green frog, and several 

 other strange tones of still stranger batrachians, all 

 of which are easily distinguished apart. 



The genus Rana* to which these croakers be- 

 long, is an extensive division of the large family 

 Ranidce. It includes no less than one hundred and 



* The frogs belonging to the genus Rana are well protected 

 from their enemies by an extremely acrid secretion of the skin. 

 Cats and dogs avoid them as a rule, not, however, without excep- 

 tions ; but snakes appear to differ in their tastes, and the great 

 number of frogs they swallow in the springtime is beyond calcu- 

 lation. — Cope,. 



