166 
HORN EXPEDITION—AMPHIBIA. 
and each in a separate cavity. The body was somewhat swollen out with water, 
but nothing like so much as in the case of C. platycephahis. 
The body colour when alive, during the dry season, is a dull yellow-brown 
with darker brown mottlings and a light vertebral line. A dark streak runs 
backwai’ds from the snout through the eye (the upper eyelid having a dark border), 
over the tympanum, and, to a greater or less extent, along the side of the body 
where the band may be broken up into spots. 
In the eight specimens tliere is no variation in the webbing, the toes being 
about one-third webbed. 
Though not previously recorded as such, this foi’in, in Central Australia at all 
events, is a burrower. Where we found it the water could not last very long, and 
the animals were evidently lestivating in burrows, the ground around wliich would 
soon be too hard to allow of their coming out until it was softened by water. 
Their habits in this respect are closely similar to those of C. platycephahis, but in 
marked contrast to the latter, the foot has very little web developed, though the 
tubercle is strong and shovel-shaped. 
They have previously been recorded from Queensland. 
On a subsequent visit, after a rainfall, I only found one tadpole—an advanced 
one with both limbs visible, and no trace of the adult, so that, presumably, it is not 
a common form in the district. 
The length of the largest adult is 35'5 mm. from snout to vent. 
(4) Heleioporiis pictus, Peters. (Plate XIII., Fig. 2. Plate XIV., Figs. 10-13). 
The adult .—This is a comparatively rare frog, being only recorded in the 
British Museum from Sandhurst in Victoria and Rylstone in New South Wales. 
During the Expedition we only found the adult form twice (a single specimen in 
each instance). The tadpole was only found once in a water-hole at Ayer’s Rock. 
Subsequently, after heavy rains, I found the adult in abundance in water-holes 
around Charlotte Waters. 
There are two points worthy of notice—(1) the colouration, (2) the webbing. 
In typical specimens the metatarsal tubercle is black. In the great majority 
of specimens from Central Australia the tip of the first toe is also black, and some 
or all of the other toes may also have black tips. It is rare to find a specimen 
with only the tubercle black, though this is the most constant feature. 
