ALLEN: REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS OF INTERVALE, N. H. 71 
jar. When captured, the frog was a dark muddy brown, but before 
long it cast off the outer layer of epidermis, leaving a clear green 
skin with a few" dark olive blotches. This change of color on 
putting it into clear water is suggestive of the cause for the 
difference in color between specimens of li. clamitans living in the 
clear mountain brooks and those living in the muddy ponds and 
streams of the river valley. 
11. Ran a sylvatica Leconte. Wood Frog. 
This is an abundant species in the cool, damp Avoods, and it 
w r orks its way well up the mountains. I caught one in a “ Cyclone ” 
mouse trap in a dried-up bog near the top of Mt. Bartlett, at an 
altitude of about 2,500 feet. This little bog was surrounded by 
ledges, from which grew stunted spruces and balsams. This frog 
is commonest in the beech woods and so closely resembles in color 
the dead beech leaves that not infrequently, even after having seen 
one jump, it is with difficulty distinguished from the background. 
When frightened, it takes prodigious leaps in an erratic course, 
and usually escapes into some hole or under a log. At night, while 
walking in a damp spot in the woods, I found numbers of them 
congregated in the path, wdiere they had probably come to feed. 
As 1 passed along, they jumped aside into the bushes. Rarely 
have I heard them utter a sound in the summer, though occa¬ 
sionally, when in the woods at night, I have detected their faint 
rasping 11 crau-au-auk.” 
12. Bufo americanus Leconte. Common Toad. 
This is an abundant species from the river well up the mountains. 
During the summer, very many small ones, ranging in size from one 
half an inch to an inch and a half, are to be found in the woods. 
The frantic struggles of these little ones as they scramble over the 
leaves and tw r igs are very comical. Frequently they make no 
progress at all, and struggle blindly to get up an almost perpen¬ 
dicular slope, with a dogged persistence, Avhicli, liOAvever, some¬ 
times accomplishes its purpose. Toads are abundant on the grassy 
inteiwales, and after dark many appear in the roads made for hay¬ 
ing carts. Apparently 'they are in search of insects, and are also 
attracted by the warmth of the dusty roads which haA r e all day 
been exposed to the sun. 
After the breeding season, the toad’s song changes from a shrill, 
prolonged pipe to a shorter, loAver-toned note, that, at night, has a 
peculiar Aveirdness, and almost reaches a Avail. This note is heard 
