048 



THE AMEBIC AN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



Why should there be this difference of twenty days be- 

 tween the spawning periods of toads in no. 1 and those in 

 no. 2 ! It can partially be explained by a cold wave which 

 set in on the fourth of May and stopped laying until the 

 ninth. Even so, the toads in no. 1 had finished spawning 

 before the cold wave came. Neglecting the five days 

 of cold weather, there still remains a difference of fifteen 

 days. These ponds are not more than a mile and a half 

 apart. The elevation is practically the same, also the 

 surroundings. Therefore the environments of the two 

 ponds do not seem sufficiently different to account for 

 so much difference in the spawning periods. 



My observations indicate that toads proceed to the 

 ponds immediately after emerging from winter quarters. 

 If this be true, then there is a second laying, or some 

 toads do not come from hibernation until late in June. 

 Observations on one toad in my experiments on hiberna- 

 tion suggest that the latter is true. This female came 

 out for the first time May 28, and if she had gone to the 

 water at once, she would have been thirty-three days 

 later than the first that spawned. I might add that I 

 have seen no large toads among these late layers. All 

 the females are about forty grams or less in size. 



The bulk of the spawn for the spring of 1908 was laid 

 in all the ponds between May 2 and 6. A minor period ^ 

 of spawning occurred on the eleventh to thirteenth. 



The first few warm days of spring bring out the toads 

 and soon the males are heard in the ponds. In a few 

 more days the females follow and spawning begins at 

 once. I have seen no toad eggs in running water, al- 

 though there is a small stream within less than two hun- 

 dred feet of ponds where many toads spawned. How- 

 ever, Dr. Hodge informs me that toads spawn in Rock 

 River, Wis., and Ottawa River, Canada, and Mr. Morse 

 states that toads generally spawn in small streams in 

 Ohio. Toads in this region prefer small ponds in which 



about two hundred yards long by twenty wide. Its depth is probably three 

 Buildings skirt all sides of the park except the west. 



