BATRACHIANS OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK 187 



Range: Four varieties of this species inhabit North America. 

 One of these appears to occur only in northeastern Massachu- 

 setts; another is confined to the Rocky Mountain region; the 

 typical form is found in the southeastern United States, while 

 the variety that occurs locally is distributed over an extensive 

 area, namely : from British America to the Southern States and 

 westward to Arizona. 



Local Distribution: Common and abundant. 



There is but one species of the local batrachians which 



FIG- 16- THE COMMON TOAD 

 From specimen in Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 



might be confused by the observ-er with the Common Toad, and 



that is the Spadefoot Toad. The Spadefoot Toad receives its 



name from a pronounced spade-like process on the inner edge of 



the hind foot, a feature which is also slightly developed on the 



common species. The color of the Spadefoot is, however, quite 



different from the ordinary toad. Instead of the single light 



band along the back of the Common Toad, the Spadefoot has 



two pale bands, which run together and fork at the end of the 



body. 



Many of the reptiles and batrachians have habits which 



render them of considerable economic value to the agriculturist, 



[33] 



