OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMON TOAD. 101 



swimming in a long continuous line, which took the form of a 

 figure of 8. As long as I watched them they kept on steadily 

 tracing this figure, like the dancers in a Scotch reel. 



After completing their metamorphosis the young Toads, then 

 hardly larger than the common house-fly, and nearly black in 

 colour, soon begin to change to various shades of brown or dark 

 grey, being always lighter on the under surface. Many acquire 

 a more or less rufous tint, a deep dull brick-red or rust-colour 

 being very frequent. At this stage of their existence they are 

 decidedly pretty and even lively little creatures. Numbers of 

 them may be seen in early summer clambering actively about the 

 wet grass-blades and herbage growing by the pond or ditch where 

 they were bred, but not as yet venturing far from the brink. 

 Owing, however, to their minute size, they often escape notice. 



Notwithstanding that the breeding season of the Toad is 

 rather later than that of the Frog (according to Bell the ova are 

 deposited about a fortnight later), the general exodus of the 

 tadpoles of both seems to take place almost simultaneously. 

 For this a thoroughly wet state of the ground is necessary, and, 

 though their departure sometimes occurs much earlier, it is often 

 delayed until the first soaking rain in August. In 1889 some 

 young Toads in this neighbourhood (Blaxhall, Suffolk) had left 

 water by the 27th of June, remaining, however, up to that time 

 among the wet grass close to the ditch from whence they had 

 emerged. On the 11th of July, however, after a heavy rain, 

 young Toads were swarming all over the low meadows, and about 

 the roads and lanes leading from them ; but as yet none were 

 to be seen on the higher ground. As these hordes of young 

 batrachians spread themselves abroad over the face of the 

 country, they show a great deal of perseverance and determina- 

 tion in their attempts to surmount such obstacles as bar their 

 progress. It is amusing to watch these little fellows striving 

 manfully to climb an almost perpendicular bank ; time after time 

 they come slipping down, but at once resume their efforts with 

 unwearied zeal, and, being good climbers, their perseverance is 

 often rewarded with success. On these journeys their way is 

 beset with many dangers, and their ranks are sadly thinned by 

 numerous enemies — such as Rats, Hedgehogs, various members 

 of the Crow family, Fowls, Ducks, Corn-Crakes, and many other 



