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University of California Publications in Zoology [Vol. 27 
at Peregoy Meadow there were many males present on May 20, 1919, while the 
only females found were small non- breeding individuals. At Tamarack Flat, 
May 25, 1919, an adult female was found at the base of a rotted tree stump fully 
200 yards from the edge of the nearest meadow and 200 feet above it in altitude, 
while males were heard trilling in the meadow that same evening. On June 15, 
1915, a chorus of these toads w T as heard near Peregoy Meadow, although egg 
laying had been accomplished some time previously. At Snow Flat on June 28, 
1915, and near Eagged Peak on July 9, 1915, other toads were heard in song. At 
the head of Lyell Canon on July 16, 1915, numbers of Yosemite Toads were found 
in a small pond, and at least some of the females were engaged in laying their 
eggs. 
On May 20, 1919, numbers of male Yosemite Toads were congregated in the 
wet meadows on either side of the ridge east of Chinquapin. During the preceding 
winter gophers from the adjacent slopes had moved down and occupied the grassy 
meadows, but with the spring break-up and melting of the snow the place had 
become untenable for the gophers, who had moved up onto the hillsides once more. 
Their tunnel systems were left as subterranean ‘ pipes’ which carried off much 
of the water from the melting snow banks to the creek in the bottom of the canon. 
These gopher tunnels served also as shelters for the toads. The latter when par- 
tially hidden in the entrances to the tunnels or even when they sat quietly on the 
open grassland were quite invisible to our [human] eyes, so well did their 
pattern of coloration match the greens and browns of the meadow'. 
The mating song of the Yosemite Toad is a sustained series of ten to twenty 
or more rapidly uttered notes, constituting a ‘ trill, ’ and the whole song is repeated 
at frequent intervals. The notes, though mellow in character, carry well consider- 
ing the size of the animal and have a ventriloquial quality which makes it difficult 
to locate any one animal by sound alone. When a number of males are giving 
their songs in the same place the songs overlap one another so that the general 
chorus is continuous. There is some difference in the pitch at which the several 
members of a group sing, varying perhaps with the size of the individual toad. 
Singing is carried on through the daylight hours and into early evening at 
least. . . . 
The Yosemite Toad spawns in late spring or in summer, depending somewhat 
upon the local climate. Specimens collected on May 24 to 26, 1919, at Tamarack 
Flat showed no signs of breeding. On June 22, 1915. numerous tadpoles and one 
recently metamorphosed young toad were seen at Mono Meadow. One female 
taken near Porcupine Flat June 28, 1915, had already laid most of her eggs. On 
July 16, 1915, at the head of Lyell Canon several individuals w^ere depositing eggs. 
[On a visit to Mount Dana on July 22, 1921, Mr. Stanley B. Freeborn found well 
developed larvae in some ponds at timber line, altitude 10,500 feet (Storer, MS).] 
The collection of Yosemite Toads at hand includes 20 males and 28 
females. The size-groups indicate that about four years are required 
for a toad to reach adult size, that males are always somewhat smaller 
than females of the same age, and that the females do not begin to 
spawn until more than 50 millimeters in length, when they are pre- 
sumably three years old. 
Among the females taken are three which measure 20, 22, and 23 
millimeters in length; these are ‘yearlings.’ Another group of 12 
ranging from 33 to 49 millimeters represents the ‘ two-year-olds. ’ In 
