THE BULL-FROG. 229 



the plaited leather of a whip — of a polished brown-black hue 

 increasing the resemblance. 



When about to seize its prey, it darts forward with open 

 mouth, grasping the animal ; in an instant it winds its lithe 

 body and tail round and round it, so as to make escape im- 

 possible. It will thus attack birds of prey of considerable 

 size, and come off victorious. 



Travellers unacquainted with the reptiles which haunt the 

 wilds of America, on first seeing a whip-snake rapidly ap- 

 proaching, will, with sensations of alarm, urge on their steeds 

 to escape — for it appears fully capable of springing up and 

 inflicting mortal injury ; but, from having no fangs, it is 

 unable to harm any one. From the delicacy of its colour, 

 the elegance of its form, and the rapidity and gracefulness of 

 its movements, it cannot fail to be admired. 



FROGS : THE BULL FROG. 



We shall find no small number of the frog race throughout 

 America. Worthy of being the president of his nation is that 

 enormous batrachian, the bull frog, both from his size, the 

 power of his notes, and his hardihood and endurance. If we 

 visit at night the neighbourhood of some pool or marsh, we 

 shall soon learn to know the sound of his voice, especially 

 when perhaps he and five hundred of his family are, with 

 their heads half out of the water, amusing themselves in the 

 performance of a concert, each striving to outdo his neighbour 

 in the loudness of his tones. He is a first-rate swimmer ; 

 and when driven out of the hole in which he passes the warm 

 hours of the day, he plunges into the water, and skims along 

 the surface some distance before he dives below it. Only on 

 such occasions, or when, perhaps, a dark thunder-cloud shrouds 



