273 Wild Life in a Sottthern County 



' coo.' Cats occasionally catch frogs by the leg, and 

 torment them, letting the creature go only to seize it 

 again, and finally devouring it. The wretched creature 

 squeals with pain and terror exactly as when caught by a 

 snake. 



No surer sign of coming rain than the appearance of 

 the toad on the garden paths is known. Many cottage 

 folk will still tell you that the hundreds and hundreds of 

 tiny frogs which may sometimes be seen quite covering 

 the ground fall from the sky, notwithstanding the fact 

 that they do not appear during the rain, but a short time 

 afterwards. And there are certain places where such 

 crowds of these creatures may be oftener found than else- 

 where. I knew one such place ; it was a gateway where 

 the clayey soil for some way round the approach had been 

 trampled firm by the horses and cattle. This gateway was 

 close to a slowly running brook, so slow as to be all but 

 stagnant. Here I have seen legions of them on several 

 occasions, all crowding on the ground worn bare of grass, 

 as if they preferred that to the herbage. 



Newts seem to prefer stagnant or nearly stagnant 

 ponds, and are rarely seen in running water. Claypits 

 from whence clay has been dug for brickmaking, and 

 which are now full of water, are often frequented by them, 

 as also by frogs in almost innumerable numbers in spring, 

 when their croaking can be heard fifty yards away when it 

 is still. 



Labourers say that sometimes in grubbing out the butt 

 of an old tree — previously sawn down — they have founij 

 a toad in a cavity of the solid wood, and look upon it as a 

 great wonder. But such old trees are often hollow at the 

 bottom, and the hollows communicate with the ditch, so 

 that the toad probably had no difficulty of access. The 



