75 
these animals and masses of spawn and deposited them in various 
parts of tiie Broads. Since then specimens have been found scattered 
over the Eastern Counties, though their numbers seem to be gradually 
decreasing. Whether these frogs existed in Britain previous to this 
importation is not properly known, though a number of letters written 
to the “Zoologist ” at the time seem to imply that another species had 
been known in the fens, besides the common variety, prior to this 
introduction. The edible frog is usually greenish, marked with a 
number of dark blotches, but the yellow line down the back, as seen 
in our plate, will at once distinguish it from its common cousin. It 
is essentially an aquatic frog living always by the side of or in some 
pond or stream. The eyes and nostrils are specially raised on the 
head to enable it to see and breathe easily while lying in the water. 
Though rather bigger than the common species it is not so robust 
where our climate is concerned, for it has never managed to breed in 
any quantity in Britain, though it literally swarms in some parts of 
the Continent. 
Common Toad. — These creatures seem to be even more plentiful 
in Britain than frogs, they undergo similar transformations, and feed 
in the same way. However, toad -spawn is laid not in masses but in 
long chains. Each one is a string of jelly in which the black yolks 
are imbedded at regular intervals. In our illustrations of this spawn 
the enveloping jelly was so transparent that it failed to make itself 
apparent in the picture. These strings are wrapped round the roots 
of the rushes and other aquatic plants growing in the ponds, and are 
sometimes twenty yards in length. The tadpoles hatch out and grow 
in the same way as described for frogs but their colour is almost 
dead black, while tho-e of frogs are closely dotted with gold spots, 
which give them a brownish appearance in their later stages. Toads 
affect fairly dry situations, except during the breeding season, where 
they scoop out a hole and there lie all day. At dusk they come out 
and hunt for worms and nocturnal insects, and display far more 
agility in capturing them than do frogs. Their gait is usually a 
laboured crawl and unless disturbed they seldom jump. Toads have 
extraordinary powers of finding their way about and of remembering 
their own sleeping places or where food is abundant. They soon 
become quite tame and display, for the type of the animals, con- 
siderable intelligence. Many creatures which naturally feed on frogs 
absolutely refuse, even when very hungry, to touch a toad. This is 
probably on account of the wart-like excrescences on the back of the 
latter which contain some acrid secretion. As soon as a toad is 
bitten this fluid flows out into the aggressor’s mouth. The victim is 
immediately dropped and the lesson never forgotten. This has pro- 
bably been the cause of so much fable about the “ venomous toad,” 
which is absolutely harmless. It is not until the skin is broken that 
this secretion flows and even then it is only exceedingly nauseating 
to the palate, but still absolutely harmless. 
Natterjack Toad. — This species closely resembles the common 
toad in many particulars but it may be at once distinguished by its 
yellow stripe down the middle of the back. In size it is rathor ITT ^ . 
ferior to its congener, though it is far more active, progre*Slrrcbjn^e£/y s v 
series of short runs. Natterjacks are very gregarious in their habits, ‘'AX 
usually living in colonies. There each individual scoops out a deem*^ 
hole in some dry situation and makes it his headt|uarterrdut4ag'flT« 
daytime. At night-fall they issue forth in search of prey and then 
they might be easily mistaken for mice as they run fijr shelter at the / ,,- 
approach of danger. The natterjack toad is not nearly so common as 
the familiar B. vulgaris, but where it occurs at all ljt seems to be s 
fairly plentiful. \ y . 
\ ’A . 
