358 



GREENING : THE NATTERJACK TOAD. 



later the fore legs were developed. Of the pools which I was 

 observing, several dried up before the spawn had fully developed, and 

 from this we may learn the reason of the more rapid development of 

 the young of this species. 



Those individuals possessing an inherited tendency to mature 

 more rapidly than the average could alone survive and reproduce 

 their species, in the peculiar situations which the Natterjacks affect. 

 As a proof that this tendency to a more rapid development is 

 hereditary, and not merely dependent on the temperature or 

 depth of the water in which they are laid, I may mention that the 

 development was equally rapid in the deepest and consequently 

 coolest pool. 



As an illustration of the enormous destruction of embryonic and 

 larval life, in the circumstances under which Natterjacks exist, owing 

 to the great tendency of the smaller pools, in sandy places, to dry up 

 in the summer months, I found that one small pool, which had shrunk 

 to about 6 ft. by 4 ft., by 6 in. deep in the middle, was positively 

 black with tadpoles. Having counted a few square inches, we 

 estimated that the pool contained at least 30,000 tadpoles ; a few 

 days later, this pool was completely dried up, and all the tadpoles 

 had perished. 



In their wild state, worms don't form much of their diet, 

 as they will only take them when nothing else is forthcoming. 

 They take none but living food, whose faintest movement is 

 quite sufficient to catch the quick eye of the Natterjack. These 

 toads are wild, and almost untamable ; mine not at all reciprocating 

 the kindly feeling shown to them. Out of some eighteen specimens, 

 only four would feed from the hand ; although, occasionally, if a 

 particularly tempting morsel is held in the fingers, a wild one will 

 rush at it, seize it, and then be lost amongst the sand. If anyone 

 wishes to see this toad in all its activity, let him take a lamp and visit 

 the sand-hills in the evening, more especially in the neighbourhood of 

 some pool (in the early summer in the breeding season, the locality 

 may easily be found by the croaking of the males), and he will be 

 astonished at the numbers round about him. In the daytime he may 

 search in vain, unless he happens to know something of the habits of 

 this creature. It is sometimes called the ' Sand-Toad,' an appropriate 

 name, as it is generally found in sandy localities, and its colour is so 

 much like that of sand, that, when seen at rest, it is difficult to detect 

 it. It might seem probable that the dorsal line would make it 

 conspicuous ; this is not so, however, for the yellow line may be 

 easily mistaken for a bit of the dry grass which is so common 

 amongst the sand-hills. On July 23rd, 1887, when ... at Formby, 



Naturalist, 



