128 
ANIMAL CURIOSITIES 
The animals are of a clumsy and ungainly 
appearance, their bodies being broad, short 
and barrel-like, and their mouths of enormous 
size. To make up for their lack of grace in 
regard to their figure, however, their skin is 
most beautifully coloured, the ground tint 
being sap-green, upon which are imposed 
numerous and somewhat large olive spots 
that are encircled with golden margins, red 
lines also being distributed in some instances 
between the spots. 
Barking frogs have the name for being of 
a very savage disposition, attacking a person 
who molests them with great ferocity, and 
hanging on to their foes with the grip of a bull¬ 
dog. Indeed, so tenacious is their grip that 
they will even suffer death rather than release 
their hold. They spend the greater part of 
their time buried under the ground with only 
the top of their backs and their eyes showing 
above the surface, and in this manner they 
lie in wait for their prey which consists of 
small mammals, birds and other kinds of frogs. 
Other burrowers, known as toad frogs, spade- 
foot or heel-clawed frogs, resemble the pre¬ 
viously mentioned speckled frog in the 
possession of a shovel-shaped tubercle upon 
the foot which aids them in making their 
underground excavations. 
