MIDWIFE TOAD 
The midwife toad takes better care of the eggs entrusted to it than most 
animal mothers. Not only does it guard the eggs until they are hatched, 
but it even uses the further precautionary measure of carrying the eggs 
on its body wherever it goes. And yet such solicitous motherhood is not a 
feminine virtue, for strange to relate the midwife toad is the male member 
of the family. 
A string of eggs are wound around each of his hind legs as soon as 
Mrs. Toad finishes her part of the job. Then the male midwife toad hies 
himself off to some inconspicuous hole to await the birth of his babies, 
the end of his chore. 
At night he leaves his abode in search of food and to dampen the 
eggs in dew or water. When the eggs are ready to hatch, he goes to a 
nearby pool; there the soft eggshells dissolve and the well-developed tad¬ 
poles relieve their parent of his burden by slipping into the water. 
This odd creature is a native of southwestern Europe. Two inches long, 
he has a smooth gray or brown back, spotted with green or red. His under¬ 
parts are a grayish white, and further color is lent by golden irises shot 
with black. 
TONGUELESS TOADS 
Most toads are dependent upon their long darting tongues to capture in¬ 
sect prey, but two varieties have been denied this instrument. They are the 
Surinam and clawed toads, which lead almost totally aquatic lives and 
must catch and swallow their prey like fish. 
SURINAM TOAD 
The mother of a family of Surinam toads would put the proudest kan- 
garoo to shame, for the brood which she carries in the pouches on her back 
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