214 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



BRITISH FROGS AND TOADS. 



By LINNAEUS GREENING. 

 (A Paper read before the Warrington Field Club November 18th, 1887J 

 Concluded from page 198. 

 Bufo calamita {Natterjack Toad). 



This is decidedly rarer and more local than our other English toad. I am 

 indebted to my friend Mr. C. S. Gregson, not only for giving me the nearest 

 locality where Natterjacks breed, but also for his kindness in accompanying 

 me to its haunts. I intend to give you our experience as I wrote it at the 

 time of our visit. On the 2nd April, 1887, Mr. Gregson, Mr. A. Jolley, and 

 myself paid a visit to the Wallasey sandhills, where this toad abounds. 

 Having arrived on the ground, the veteran naturalist (Mr. Gregson) soon 

 pointed out the outward and visible sign of the den of this creature. This 

 distinguishing sigu is the shape of the holes in which the Natterjacks hyber- 

 nate, and to which they return during the day time, even after hybernation, 

 being exclusively nocturnal feeders. The entrance to each hole is semi-circular, 

 just large enough to admit its tenants, of which there are usually two, male 

 and female. It is not very pleasant to put your hand down a hole 20 inches 

 deep, and feel something cold, which is, or should be, the nose of the toad. 

 After Mr. Gregson had fetched a pair out, without suffering death, we set to 

 work and found considerable numbers. It is a very curious fact, that when 

 first taken from their holes, they are small, but seem to expand or fill up to 

 their normal size. The cause of this, I take it, is the inflation of the lungs 

 and skin, as referred to in the description of the common toad. As a matter 

 of course respiration is almost arrested during hybernation. Another curious 

 fact is that although they enter their holes head foremost, yet, when found, 

 their noses always point outwards. The reason is obvious, for among the 

 ever-changing faces of the sandhills, the mouth of the hole may be filled up ; 

 when this happens, the toad has only to follow his nose, and then can work 

 his way out with little difficulty. 



The fertilization, disposition, and quantity of spawn are as in the common 

 species, though the pools in which the spawn is laid are usually devoid of 

 water plants, and consequently the spawn sinks to the bottom. The develop- 

 ment of the embryo and larva is more rapid than in the common species. I 

 repeatedly visited the pools amongst the sandhills at Wallasey, aud found 

 that the adult form was attained 39 days after the hatching of the egg. The 

 spawn is usually laid at the end of May, or early part in June. The young 

 tadpoles lost their gills on the fourth day; the hind legs appeared first, and 



