954 The Mink or Hoosier Frog. | September, 
yet it had not more than the third of its tail absorbed. I have 
observed the same in R. catesbiana, the bull-frog, but have never 
as yet noticed that of the R. clamata do so. These three species 
remain silent after they first appear, until the rays of the sun 
warms the water they inhabit, when the last two render the swamps 
monotonously hideous, all night long, by an unceasing and seem- 
ingly senseless clatter. There is a peculiar reverberation in the 
notes of all frogs that renders it difficult to locate the exact spot 
from which it comes. I may mention in passing that I have 
stood on the mountain above Hamilton, at the head of Lake 
Ontario, and distinctly heard the bellow of the bull-frog at the 
further side of Burlington bay and in Dundas swamp, a distance 
of from four to six miles. These notes were weird and strange, 
and were truly a witchery on the air in the still summer night. 
The tadpole of R. septentrionalis much resembles that of Alytes 
obstetricans, so well described by M. F. Lataste, of Paris, a highly 
distinguished herpetologist, whom I have the honor of number- 
ing among my corresponding friends. He lately sent me his 
“Etude du Discoglosse,” and among all the numerous works I 
have read on herpetological subjects this stands preéminently 
forth, for its scientific precision, acumen, and marked ability. i a 
some points Discoglossus pictus seems to approach our Canadian 
Rana septentrionalis, which can be pointed out in some subsequent 
paper. 
In regard to its geographical range it seems truly a northern 
form. It is mentioned in the local issue of the Bulletin of the UL 
S. National Museum, No. 24, by Dr. Yarrow, that there are: d 
mens from Utah, Oregon, California, Moose river, Red nva 
the North, both the last in British America, and I can add Onta: ae 
rio and Manitoba. From this it is seen that it has 4 wide | 
: 
Rives AS 
Ot ale 
Me O64. so ae N 
distribution, but being of a retiring nature it has doub 
overlooked by collectors in many regions. Every ani : 
place in creation to be for the general good. This seems ms pe : 
its place, in the early stages of its career, as a scavenger of + 
streams, and in the adult, as keeping down the over-abunie am 
the insects that inhabit streams and their borders. I sear this 
that it has been termed the “Rocky Mountain frog, bet ‘ae 
name seems to me utterly untenable, as it does not belong to — 
region particularly, nor was it first discovered there; ~ 
this is a point of not the slightest importance, and if ay, ne 
gratified with the name, it gives me pleasure to know It. 
