No. 515] 



THE AMERICAN TOAD 



659 



hiding during a rain, have led to the belief that toads are 

 rained down. 



After abandoning their aquatic life, these little toads 

 simply eat, grow and endeavor to escape their enemies. 

 By the first of October, their weight at the time of meta- 

 morphosis has been increased more than sixty times. 

 In other words, they double in weight almost every sixteen 

 days. 



Eeports indicate that toads are very unequally dis- 

 tributed both as to the country in general and to local 

 areas. Killicut found them abundant along Lake Erie in 

 Ohio. Here in Massachusetts they are very numerous. 

 Through the northern half of Indiana toads can almost 

 be said to be scarce, while in the southern half they are 

 found in considerable numbers. Few were observed in 

 the vicinity of "Waterloo, Iowa. Reports from Wisconsin 

 and Minnesota indicate that this species is well repre- 

 sented in these states, while in Maine and Ohio they are 

 said to be abundant. 



Toads are more numerous in and about towns than 

 elsewhere. Very rarely is a toad seen in a large field 

 which is under cultivation. Only fifty toads were seen 

 during a whole season on one thousand acres of farming 

 land in central Indiana. This scarcity may be accounted 

 for by two factors, i. e., first, that pasturing and tillage 

 kill the toads or, second, that the extensive drainage lias 

 exterminated the toad by depriving it of breeding places. 

 Sufficient data are not at hand, as yet, upon these two 

 points of general and local distribution to draw conclu- 

 sions. 



During the summer the toad leads a solitary life and no 

 more utters the ringing trill of the breeding season. On 

 very rare occasions, which may be as late as September 

 21, he may strike up a weak, shorter and more guttural 

 note, which is much inferior to the vigor and fullness of 

 the mating call. This note is so rare that the toad may 

 be considered silent throughout the summer. 



Rarely, except at night or on cloudy days, is the toad 

 seen hopping about. Late in the fall, however, he may 



