180 NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
and snap! there is one cutworm less to work havoc 
in the garden. The toad’s only weapon is its 
tongue, but that is quite sufficient. It is attached 
in front and free behind, so that it can fly out with 
the quickness and swiftness of a hair-spring. 
Moreover it is coated with a sticky substance 
which holds the captive until the creature’s jaws 
close upon it. If the victim chances to be too 
large to be gobbled easily, the toad uses his hind 
legs to help crowd it down! 
“ Toads have an enormous capacity for food. 
It has been found that when food is abundant 
one will completely fill and empty his stomach 
four times in twenty-four hours. Toads usually 
stay hidden during the day, because they are very 
susceptible to the heat or the drying effect of the 
sun’s rays upon their sensitive skin. On cloudy 
days and in the cool of the evening, they come 
out from their retreat and set busily about their 
business of patrolling the gardens and fields. 
Unless food is exceedingly plentiful, they hunt 
all night long, and are themselves frequently 
gobbled up by owls, bats, skunks, and other night- 
prowling creatures. In some way the toads have 
learned that an electric arc or other bright light 
attracts swarms of insects, and that these fall 
to the ground thereabouts in great numbers. 
Kirkland reports having seen eight busy toads 
holding a festival under an arc light at Amherst, 
