rem Udi se BAeNe be Ua ls ei sb oN 3 
heard as a child. All this came from a Feuerkrote or Unke, Bombinator 
igneus, a creature that looked like a fat black toad. Dr. Lorenz fished 
one out of the water and it lay stiffly on its back with its legs held up 
and bright orange spots showing on its belly. It belongs to the Bell-toads 
or Discoglossidae and is a relative of the midwife toad. Around some water 
plants we found a ribbon of its eggs. It gives off a disagreeable secretion 
from its skin which makes it safe from snakes, turtles and birds. “If you 
go out to catch food for your birds,” said Dr. Lorenz, “you will soon dis- 
cover that many of the things that are abundant and easy to catch are 
not good to eat.” Bombinator sings all summer long. 
A week later, after tea, I again visited my meadows. Although it was 
a bright day, snails were out in force in the shade of an aspen grove by 
the side of a pond. The bell-like note of 
Bombinator seemed to come from every 
direction. I was delighted to hear once 
more the liquid whistle of the oriole. 
From the grove ahead of me there 
issued outrageous squawks, harsh and 
snarling. I had just seen my first magpie 
since I had come to Austria, so I laid the 
discordance to her. Slowly I made my way 
through masses of bedstraw and a compa- 
ny of mosquitoes, but these creatures were 
so innocuous in comparison to their cousins 
in America that they hardly seemed re- 
Golden oriole lated. The unpleasant noises continued, al- 
though no author was visible; I was 
puzzled, but felt partly satisfied by the confident expectation of once more 
seeing the magpie. To my shocked surprise I finally made out the squawker 
to be none other than a golden oriole! Perched high in a tree she uttered 
her disapproval in this unmistakable manner and soon was echoed by her 
mate. She is less brightly colored than he—a greenish gold where he is 
pure gold, brown where he is black. 
One afternoon Thomas and Agnes accompanied their father and me; 
the children were provided with field glasses for bird study and jars for 
collecting water creatures. We 
saw a kestrel darting at a hooded 
crow, while a green woodpecker 
with gorgeous green body and 
red head flew up from the ground. 
Dr. Lorenz seined the ponds for 
mosquito larvae and other tidbits 
for his ducklings at home. The 
most interesting find he made was 
that of a spider, Arguroneta 
aquatica, that lives under water; 
it has a little bladder of air 
