94 
THE 
CANADIAN 
NATUHALIST. 
SO soon as it would be aware of yours : so that the bird 
would have a decided advantage over you. Accident may 
throw light on this^ as it has done on many other subjects. 
C. — There is another sounds which I have not heard be- 
fore : as if a score of persons were whistling together : it is 
not so far off as the saw-whetter^ for it evidently comes from 
this fields and but a few yards distant. 
F, — ■ Many are engaged in the concert ; but if you listen 
attentively^, you will perceive that each whistles three short 
and quick notes, two alike, and the third much higher in 
tone. There is not much doubt about the origin of this. It 
proceeds from some of the Reptilia ; it is usually called the 
Piping Frog, but I believe it in reality a small lizard. Like 
the saw-whetter, it reserves its music to enliven the night 
season, and makes up in pertinacity what it wants in melody. 
This field is wet and marshy, in which situations alone this 
reptile delights. I think it likely that the lizard is beneath 
the surface of the ground, at the time of making this piping 
noise ; at least, sometimes, if not always ; for once I heard 
many of them in my own field before it was dark, and being 
quite near, I looked, but could see nothing : presently the 
tune struck up from the ground a yard or two from me. I 
went cautiously to the spot, and found that it had evidently 
proceeded from a small hole in the earth, but no musician 
was visible. If I had had a spade, I might have brought him 
forth to daylight, or rather to twilight, to receive the applause 
due to his musical powers. — But here we are, once more at 
home. 
