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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST 



[Vol. L 



The call of the Fowler's toad is a metallic, droning sound, not conspicu- 

 ously vibrated. The pitch of the call may be as high as that of Bufo 

 americanus, but descends in doleful fashion through several intervals 

 before the close. Its carrying power is unusually great. The quality 

 is indescribable; on the whole, the call is weird and mournful and not 

 especially agreeable to our ears. 



Overton (previously cited) says : 



sounds do not melt into a chord. The combined sound is discordant 

 and decidedly unpleasant to a musical ear, but at a distance the sound 

 is more pleasant for the moan is not apparent and only the whistle is 

 heard. The sound lasts from two to three seconds and may be repeated 

 at intervals of about ten seconds. 



Overton says the song of Bufo americanus is prolonged about 

 thirty seconds. 



•Dr. Andrew Nichols, 10 of Danvers, Massachusetts, is quoted as 

 saying : 



There is no sound in bog, pond, fen, forest, or air at all like it. 



Although Nichols referred to the toad as Bufo lentiginosus Shaw, 

 it is extremely probable that he had in mind Bufo fowleri. 

 Miss Hinckley 11 says : 



The bleat of B. fowleri, with its far reaching, metallic ring, is usually 

 heard after sunset. I have seen the latter give voice on the land, while 

 the trill of B. americanus, heard at all times of day and night during 

 the mating season, I have only seen given in the water. 



In the field the writer has found little difficulty in recognizing 

 Fowler's toad throughout its range. Its note at once distin- 

 guishes it from B. americanus. Color characters, while fairly 

 definite, do not, perhaps, always serve to distinguish B. fowleri 

 from B. americanus. According to Miller and Chapin, the color 

 of the eye alone will distinguish B. fowleri from B. americanus. 

 These observers state that in the former the iris is silvery, while 

 in the latter it is bronze. There is some question in the writer's 

 mind as to the value of this character as an identification mark. 

 The question is now under investigation. 



