184 NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
He’d a fresh new suit underneath of brown, 
With spots of lighter hue, 
And gravely he looked himself over with care, 
As much as to say: “ Now I’ll do.” 
Next he picked up his dusty cast-off clothes, 
And folded and rolled them tight, 
Then (no, I’m not joking) he swallowed the roll, 
And slowly hopped off out of sight. 
—Prentice V. Rogers. 
“ There are many such scenes in the life of the 
toad,” Uncle John continued, as the generous 
applause ceased. “ Frequently during the sum¬ 
mer we find toads that seem much fresher and 
brighter looking than their neighbors. The rea¬ 
son is that they have just donned a new suit. In 
youth, the toad’s skin is quite smooth. Rough¬ 
ness and warts come with age. The belief that 
the toad is poisonous arises from the milky acrid 
fluid it throws out from its skin when roughly 
handled. This does not affect the human skin, 
but dogs that attempt to bite toads show that 
they find the taste extremely unpleasant. It is 
no barrier, however, to hawks and owls, who 
never lose a chance at a toad. The toad is not 
quite grown up until its fourth year. At this 
period, the young females assemble at the ponds 
with their elders, and lay their first eggs. The 
number of eggs laid by the more mature toad- 
mothers is astonishing, their lavish provision be- 
