28 
ANIMAL CURIOSITIES 
emitting loud noises that are said to be caused 
by the creatures striking their tongues against 
the roof of their mouths, yet few of them 
have a voice proper. Those, however, that 
do possess one, give rise to sharp and clear 
cries somewhat resembling the chirping of a 
cricket. 
The voices of frogs and toads are of a very 
varied nature, but most of them produce 
croaking sounds through the agency of vocal 
sacs which, in some instances, attain to a 
very large size when extended to their fullest 
extent. Indeed, so enormous is the inflated 
air pouch of the male European tree-frog that 
it almost equals the bulk of the creature’s 
body, and when a number of these frogs are 
croaking in unison their voices can be heard 
for a distance of several miles. 
The golden tree-frog of Australia is stated 
to utter a cry that resembles the sound 
produced by a stonemason wielding a mal¬ 
let and chisel, while at other times it will 
emit a sound like that made by cattle 
bells. 
According to Dr. von Ihering, the voice of 
another tree-frog from Tropical America sounds 
like a person rubbing his finger-nails over the 
teeth of a comb ; while the South American 
dwarf toad, during the pairing season, gives 
