6 3 8 The Development of the Tree-toad. [August, 



each side. An iridescence of great brilliancy is seen on the white 

 surface of the abdomen and sides of the body. The head and 

 upper portion of the body show a bluish, metallic sheen, and the 

 tail, which is more or less flecked with brown or black, becomes 

 in some specimens a bright red color. It would be difficult to 

 exaggerate the beauty of coloring of these tadpoles, it exceeds 

 in brilliancy and variety any species found in this locality. 



As the legs become more fully developed, the coloring of the 

 head and body tends from dark olive to a light, grayish-green. 

 In the seventh week the body begins to lose its roundness, and the 

 arms are seen to be moved under the skin, as if the tadpole were 

 impatient to get them free. The head then appears dispropor- 

 tionately large. At this stage the tadpoles vary from gray to 

 pea-green in color. They are found in the shallow water near 

 the shore, where many fall prey to various aquatic birds. During 

 the eighth week they appear to take little food ; the arms are 

 thrown out, the tail is gradually resorbed, the mouth developed, 

 and the frogs leave the water. While a few specimens retain the 

 color of gray up to this time, nearly all will be found of various 

 shades of tender green on the upper surfaces, bordered with dif- 

 ferent tints of gray or salmon color. The abdomen is white. 

 Green asserts itself much earlier in some specimens than others; 

 but I have never seen a tadpole of this species develop into the 

 frog that did not sooner or later become green. The markings 

 on the back also vary in time of appearance ; but the coloring of 

 black on the head, body and limbs, the smooth shiny patch below 

 the eyes, the granulated appearance of the skin, and the yellow 

 coloring in the folds of the legs, usually appear in the order of 

 their mention, and after the frogs have left the water. 



Last season a small pond in an open pasture, about fifteen rods 

 from a wood, furnished a good opportunity for observing their 

 movements on leaving the water. From the 19th to the 24th oi 

 July, numbers of the young frogs, with tails in different stages o( 

 resorption, were found on the ground, weeds, and grasses about 

 the pond, which by this time had become reduced by evaporation 

 to a shallow pool. They represented a variety of shades of green ; 

 a few were gray, and occasionally one was scarcely to be sepa- 

 rated in color from the mud on which it rested. I observed those 

 on the ground frequently capture the small spiders which were 

 numerous there. As soon as they left the water their object- 



