One of the most remarkable species is the FLYING-FROG of Java. The power of flight is simulated in this instance on a different principle to that which obtains in any other group. It is not accomplished through the medium of abnormally produced ribs with connecting membrane, as occurs in the Flying-lizards; nor by means of a flap of skin stretched between the fore and hind limbs, as in the Flying-squirrels and Phalangers. In place of these the toes of all four feet are abnormally prolonged, and their interspaces bridged over to their tips by webbing. The body of this frog is about 4 inches long, while the webs of the feet, when fully expanded, cover collectively an area of fully 12 square inches; they thus constitute aerial floats, itwhich enable their owner to make prodigiously long flying leaps among the trees in which takes up its abode. The colours of this singular species are striking; the back and limbs are a deep shining green, the under-surface and inner toes yellow, and the webs black rayed with yellow. In common with the typical Tree-frogs, the toes of this Javan flying variety all terminate in a dilated adhesive disk. Among the oddities of the Frog Tribe prominence may be given to the singular SHORT- HEADED FROGS of East Africa. In these the head is so short, and the body, when puffed out, so nearly globular, that they have been aptly described as more nearly resembling india-rubber

Photo by W. P. Dando, F.Z.S.~[ [Regent's Park balls than frogs. Another notable form, inhabiting ORNAMENTED HORNED TOAD. Chili, is remarkable for the circumstance that Is accustomed to prowl round farmyards to pick up stray chicks the throat-sac of the male is so enlarged and and ducklings. modified as to form a chamber on the under 76

surface of the body. In this sac the eggs laid by the female are deposited and pass through their tadpole phases. The HORNED FROGS, or HORNED TOADS, of South America constitute a distinct and interesting group. They are of large size, stout and rotund, gorgeously apparelled, and truculent in bearing. There are nearly a dozen known species, the distinctive feature from which they take their name having reference to the stiff, horn-like development of their upper eyelids. The largest species is a native of Brazil, whose body may be as much as 8 inches long. This species has the horn-like processes of the eyelids most prominently developed. A somewhat smaller but conspicuously handsome species, plentiful in the Argentine Republic, is at the present time represented by several individuals at the Eegent's Park Gardens. In this animal the body is relatively more obese and toad-like than in the Brazilian form, but the horn-like angle of the upper eyelid is only slightly produced. The colours vary somewhat, the general ground-tint of the upper-surface is bronze-green or yellow, upon which are distributed large spots and blotches of dark olive or chocolate, having light yellow or golden margins. The spots on the limbs are the widest, and almost take the character of cross-bands. Bright claret-red lines are sometimes developed in and among the body-spots. A very interesting account of the habits of this frog appears in Mr. W. H. Hudson's " The Naturalist in La Plata." Mr. Hudson reports it as being common on the pampas as far south as the Rio Colorado, in Patagonia. In the breeding-season it congregates in pools, and displays extraordinary vocal powers, which are exercised at night. The notes uttered are long, resembling those of a wind instrument, and are so powerful that on still evenings they may be heard distinctly a mile off. After the pairing-season the frogs disperse, and, retiring to moist places, bury themselves just deep enough to leave their broad green backs on a level with the surface. The eyes, under these conditions, look out as from a couple Photo by Scholastic Photo. Co.] [I'anton's Green. of watch-towers, and are on the qui vive for EUROPEAN GREEN TREE-FROG. any approaching prey. This consists of any indigenous to southern Europe. moving creature which they can capture, such as other frogs and toads, birds, and small mammals. In very wet seasons they will frequent the neighbourhood of houses, and lie in wait for chickens and ducklings, often capturing and attempting to swallow objects much too large for them. In disposition they are exceedingly pugnacious, savagely biting at anything that comes near them. When teased, the creature swells itself out to such an extent that one expects to see it burst. It follows its tormentors about with slow, awkward leaps, its vast mouth wide open, and uttering an incessant harsh croaking sound. When they bite, these frogs hold on with the tenacity of a bull-dog, poisoning the blood of the creature seized with their glandular secretion. Mr. Hudson records two instances in which to his knowledge horses were killed through being bitten by a horned frog. One of them, while lying down, had been seized by a fold in the skin near the belly; the other had been grasped by the nose while cropping grass. In both instances the vicious frog was found dead, with jaws tightly closed, It would seem," Mr. Hudson remarks, " that they arestill hanging to the dead horse. " sometimes incapable of letting go at will, and, like honey-bees, destroy themselves in these savage attacks."

Frogs and Toads 603

The TKEE-FROGS represent one of the most distinct groups of the tribe. All its members are more or less arboreal in their habits, repairing to the water only during the breeding-season, or leaving the trees to seek shelter in the earth or underneath stones or timber for the purposes of hibernation. As an adaptation for their special habits, the toes of the tree-frogs are provided at their tips with suctorial disks, so that they can walk on perpendicular or smoothly glazed surfaces after the manner of the Geckos among the Lizards. Another characteristic feature is the development on the under surface of their bodies of peculiar granular glands pierced by numerous pores, through the medium of which they rapidly absorb the moisture deposited by dew or rain on the surfaces of the leaves among which they live. The colours of the tree-frogs harmonise, as a rule, so completely with those of their leafy environments that their presence very readily escapes detection. Many of the species, moreover, rival the chameleon in their capacity of quickly adapting their tints to that of a newly occupied surrounding. Green is naturally the dominant ground-tint of these frogs. Often, however, it is intermixed with stripes and bands of other colours, while sometimes the green hue is entirely replaced, as in the BLUE or BICOLOURED TREE-FROG of South America, which is brilliant azure above and pure white beneath. A very beautiful Australian species, abundant in Tasmania and Victoria, and appropriately named the GOLDEN TREE- Photo I jj W. Savillc-Kcnt, F.Z.S., Milford-on-Sea. FROG, has its grass-green overcoat thickly overlaid and QUEENSLAND TREE-FROGS. embroidered with, as it were, the purest beaten gold. This species is in the habit of making itself at home is common on the in chamber water-jugs. One small species of tree-frog European Continent, its distribution extending to North isAfrica and eastward throughout Asia north of the Himalaya to Japan. The species imported into England in considerable numbers, and readily becomes acclimatised in a conservatory. Green above and whitish beneath constitute the prevailing tints of this species, such uniformity being, however, varied by the presence of a darker, often nearly black, light-edged streak, that extends from the snout through the eye and ear along each side of the body, and sends a branch upwards and forwards on the loins. The male of this European species shares with many others of its tribe the possession of a large external vocal sac, which when inflated bulges out from the throat y ii. G. F. spun-eii, j&ft.] [Eastbourne. in a spherical form to dimen- COMMON TOAD. sions little inferior to those of Toads are accredited with attaining an age of several hundred years. the Creature's body. It may be

observed of examples of these frogs acclimatised in a conservatory that the falling of heavy rain on the roof is an almost certain incentive to their croakings. By pouring water resonantly from a little height into another vessel, the writer also found that he could produce a frog chorus at command.

The European and other tree-frogs deposit their eggs in the water, some species constructing a symmetrical crater-like nest of mud for the reception of the eggs and tadpoles. Certain kinds, however, never leave the trees, having adapted their requirements to the naturally provided environments. Thus one Brazilian species deposits its eggs in the water almost invariably contained in the central cup of a tree, while another allied frog chooses for the same purpose the moist interstices at the bases of decaying banana leaves. A step further, resulting in complete independence of external water, is arrived at by the MARSUPIAL or POUCHED TREE- FROG of Central America. In this species the female develops a capacious pouch on her back, which opens backward, and wherein both the eggs—primarily assisted to their position by the

male —and tadpoles undergo their

characteristic transformations. As a contrast to the foregoing exclusively tree-dwelling forms, one very fine species common in Queensland has pronounced social proclivities. He is a fine fellow, with a bright pea-green coat and large, lustrous black eyes, and either with or without your leave invades your bedroom from the adjoining verandah, and makes the lip of your water-jug his headquarters. Here he will “lie low” the livelong day. With the approach of night, however, this lethargy is thrown aside, and he hops forth, making excursions through every room in search of black-beetles, spiders, moths, or other acceptable quarry. In this vermin-destroying capacity he is a welcome guest to all except perhaps the ultra-squeamish housekeeper, his occasional offence of an upset glass or cup during his excited chase of the wily cockroach being readily condoned. He has a playful habit too, during his midnight wanderings, of climbing up walls and ceilings, to which he readily clings with his adhesive toes, and mayhap drops down on the recumbent form of some peaceful sleeper, who, if a stranger, possibly wakes with an alarming apprehension of snakes or other uncanny intruders. When once this QUEENSLAND GREEN FROG has determined upon his camping-ground, he clings to it with remarkable pertinacity. You may deport him time after time, and even carry him half a day’s journey into the wilderness, but he turns up

again the next morning or the following one.

Toads are distinguished from frogs by their sluggish creeping movements and by their non-possession of teeth. There are over eighty species, having collectively an almost cosmopolitan range, though they are not found in Australia, New Guinea, Madagascar, or the Pacific Islands. The common British species enjoys a wide distribution, being found throughout Europe, Asia excepting India, and North-west Africa. Its somewhat clumsy, brown, wrinkled, and warted body, with darker spots and markings on the upper-surface and white-speckled under-surface, will be familiar to every reader. With many it is an unwarranted

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