156 Indian and Malayan Amphibia and Reptilia. [No. 2, 



the latter is not found, and in Spiti only B. viridis is met with, 

 usually between 11 and 13,000 feet, though far from common. At 

 the village Grieumal, I found a small specimen at about 15,000 feet, 

 which is probably the highest locality from which a Batrachian was 

 ever recorded. 



12. Bufo melanosticus, S c h n e i d, (Gr u n t h., 1. cit. p. 422). 

 (Syn. Bufo isos, D. and B. = ? B. gymauchen, B 1 e e k., = B. spinipes, 

 Fitz.). 



Younger specimens of this species are, as a rule, much more slen- 

 der than old ones, and the same applies to the form of the para- 

 toids ; they are dark ashy (rarely light brown) variegated with black. 

 There are, however, very many variations to be observed in both 

 the length of the body and of the paratoids. The width of the 

 head also greatly varies. The species is said not to possess a rim 

 on the inner edge of the tarsus, some specimens have it, how- 

 ever, distinctly indicated, either as a short continuous fold, or as 

 a row of somewhat enlarged tubercles ; this can be seen in speci- 

 mens from about Calcutta, and I observed the same also in some 

 of the younger and half grown ones from near Moulmein, Penang, 

 Malacca, Singapore, the Andamans and Nicobars. Himalayan 

 specimens from the Sutlej valley, and some of the specimens 

 from the interior of the Andamans, and one or two from Moulmein, 

 hardly possess a trace of it, but all these are of large size, having 

 the tarsus particularly thickened and rounded. 



Steindachner (Amphibia der Novara Exped. p. 42,) 

 justly, I think, questions the specific difference of Bufo isos, D. and 

 B., (or ? B. gymnauchen, B 1 e e k.), from B. melanosticus, stating 

 that in the latter, considerable variations exist as to the more or 

 less complete webbing of the toes. I also find that it is impossible 

 to attribute to this character within certain limits much specific 

 value. The pure land forms, such as those from the Himalayas, 

 from Upper Bengal, from the interior of the hills east of Moulmein 

 and from the jungles of the Andamans, usually have the toes more 

 elongated, and consequently they appear to be only moderately 

 webbed. The webbing extends on the fourth toe to about half its 

 length, and is further on only indicated by a minute ridge on either 



