No. 600] SHORTER ARTICLES AND DISCUSSION 



759 



central and southern New Jersey it is the only species, as B. 

 americanus was not found here. Miller and Chapin also found 

 that Fowler's toad was the only form to be found upon Staten 

 Island, N. Y., as well as upon Long Island. In the mountainous 

 parts of northern New Jersey both B. americanus and B. fowleri 



In 1914 Overton 6 published an interesting paper concerning 

 the frogs and toads of Long Island. Overton found that Bufo 

 fowleri is the only toad occurring on Long Island, where it ap- 

 pears to be common, while the common toad of the mainland of 

 New York State is B. americanus. 



Various authors have mentioned the song of Bufo fowleri. 

 S. P. Fowler in the letter to Professor S. W. Putnam, previously 

 cited, first described its song. His description is particularly 

 apt. 



To my ears the croak is a sharp, disagreeable, unearthly screech, diffi- 

 cult to describe, as it is unlike any sound I have ever heard. A chorus 

 of these has been likened to the whoop of a party of Indians. 



As none of us at this late day can recall the whoop of Indians, 

 this comparison, although historically interesting, does not give 

 us much aid in appreciating the peculiar nature of the sound. 



Dr. Nichols, in the same letter, is cited as considering the song 

 to be a shrill monotone in a high falsetto voice, longer and more 

 trilling than the voice of Pickering's hyla. Fowler, however, 

 states that there is no trill to the note, an opinion the writer also 

 shares. 



The writer has described the note as follows: "I have heard 

 nothing in nature so weird and unearthly as the almost agonized 

 wail of this toad, repeated at intervals," 7 and "The usual note 

 of Fowler's toad is a brief, penetrating, droning scream." 8 



Miller and Chapin, in their article previously cited, say of it : 

 ... it certainly has much less music to it than the trill of the Ameri- 

 can toad. The notes are more closely connected, so that a sort of 

 buzzing is heard. 



Miss Dickerson 9 says of the notes of Bufo fowleri: 



e Overton Frank, ' ' The Frogs and Toads, ' ' Long Island Fauna and 



S^^i^^^Tno. ! Nov. 3, 1914. 



7 Science, N. S., Vol. 26, No. 664, Sept. 20, 1907. 



8 Science', N. S., Vol. 28, No. 723, Nov. 6, 1908. 



9 Dickerson, Mary C, "The Frog Book," 1906. 



