1925] Storer: A Synopsis of the Amphibia of California 
185 
Bufo boreas lialophilus is the only toad which has been collected. 
The former subspecies occurs about Mono Lake just a few miles east 
of the easternmost record station for canorns, but in a lower life-zone ; 
Bufo b. lialophilus occurs on the western flank of the Sierras, but 
again in lower zones (Upper Sonoran and Transition). In the east- 
ward penetration of the Transition Zone on the floor of Yosemite 
Valley lialophilus actually occurs east of the westernmost stations of 
occurrence for canorus, but the difference in altitude is fully 2500 
feet. 
Life-history. — Bufo canorus is strictly a high mountain toad. Its 
life-history has not been completely investigated although a number 
of facts concerning it were learned by members of the field parties of 
the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology when working in the Yosemite 
National Park in 1915 and 1919. The following is an abridgement 
of the account given by Grinnell and Storer (1924, pp. 657-660), 
which includes most of the known facts. All observations were made 
in Yosemite National Park. 
Bufo canorus undoubtedly hibernates for a considerable period of 
time during the winter months, wdien snow covers the higher country 
and the air temperature goes below the freezing point ; in this respect 
it differs markedly from the majority of amphibians in California. 
Observations were not continued within the range of the species long 
enough to determine the actual dates of spring emergence and fall 
disappearance. On May 20, 1919, at Peregoy Meadow, south of 
Yosemite Valley, males were already out and trilling loudly, and on 
September 3, 1915, at Vogelsang Lake, a single individual was col- 
lected. Some of the toads probably emerge toward the end of April 
and a few may be out until early October. The hardihood of the 
species is indicated by the way in which the adults enter the melting 
snow water during the spring and early summer months. The winter 
season is spent in some retreat in the ground, presumably below the 
frost line. During that part of the summer not devoted to spawning 
activities the toads spend the days solitarily in damp situations at the 
surface of the ground under logs or stones. Several small individuals 
were observed in the daytime in July on a hot, dry, sandy flat near 
Ragged Peak, and near Vogelsang Lake one individual was found 
beneath a rock in a damp heather patch 20 feet from a stream. 
Immediately or very soon after emerging from their winter hibernation these 
toads repair to pools and small streams in the wet meadows, and continue there 
until the eggs are deposited or even longer. The males precede the females, as 
