432 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



has led me to suppose that it lacks the disagreeable smell which is some- 

 times so apparent in presence of the Common Snake (C. natrix), but I know 

 on this particular point opinions differ. — G. B. Cokbin (Ringwood, Hants). 



AMPHIBIA. 



Enemies of the Toad. — An instance of a Weasel having been seen 

 carrying a Toad in its mouth was recorded in the ' Field ' a short time 

 since by Mr. E. Stanford, Honitop, Devonshire. I cannot unfortunately 

 recollect the exact date of its appearance, but believe it to have been about a 

 year ago, more or less. I have myself seen a tame Hedgehog devour a Toad 

 which was more than half grown. Doubtless there are very few mammals, 

 and not many birds, which ever make a meal of a full-grown Toad. The 

 Common Buzzard, however, is known to do so, and in the spring Rats make 

 great havoc among Frogs and Toads alike in the marsh ditches. The vast 

 armies of young Toads which, after completing their change from the tadpole 

 state, leave the water and spread abroad over the face of the country, are 

 beset by many dangers. Numbers are no doubt crushed by wheels and the 

 hoofs of horses and cattle, while others fall a prey to rats, fowls, ducks, &c. 

 I once saw a cock calling his hens together to partake of some choice 

 morsel he held in his beak. This he afterwards dropped, and on picking 

 it up it turned out to be a small Toad. A Corncrake caught by a dog 

 near Orford, Suffolk, in August, 1887, when taken in the hand, disgorged 

 a very young Toad, and immediately afterwards a Frog of much larger 

 size.— G. T. Rope (Blaxhall, Suffolk). 



[Mr. J. H. Gurney (Zool. 1883, p. 303) states that Common Snakes 

 prey chiefly on Toads, which he had found to form the most frequent con- 

 tents of their stomachs. — Ed.] 



INSECTA. 

 Stridulation of Cicadidss and Orthoptera. — In the Editor's excellent 

 and interesting " Zoological Rambles " (p. 159) the following passage 

 occurs : — " Protective resemblance can scarcely be a factor in the insect's 

 existence when by its piercing notes it proclaims the place of its conceal- 

 ment. In collecting I was usually apprised of their whereabouts by their 

 stridulating music." I should like to ask if this is the experience of observers 

 generally. I have many times listened to the highly-pitched sounds emitted 

 by Cicadas, Grasshoppers, Crickets, &c, in Africa and South America, and 

 have often searched lor a considerable time without being able to discover 

 the whereabouts of the insects. In my experience a highly-pitched shrill 

 sound, even when very loud, is most difficult to localize exactly, and I say 

 this with the sounds uttered or made by both birds and insects in my miud. 

 1 remember one evening, when I was in Uruguay, an intensely loud and 

 highly pitched or shrill Grasshopper's trill suddeuly began in the room. 



