Britain, another one--the Edible Frog, a Continental species--has been
naturalised in the Eastern Counties of England since the early part
of the nineteenth century, when Mr. Geo. Berney brought about 1500
specimens from France and Belgium and turned them loose in the Fens, in
the neighbourhood of Stoke Ferry, where they are no longer plentiful,
though they occur locally in various parts of Norfolk. A few years later
(1843) Mr. Thurnall discovered the species in the Cambridgeshire Fens at
Foulmire--a great distance (30 to 40 miles) from Stoke Ferry. Bell
says his father had noted the presence of these Foulmire frogs, under
the name of "Whaddon Organs," about the middle of the eighteenth
century; so that it appeared that Mr. Berney had "taken coals to
Newcastle"--in other words, had introduced the Edible Frog to a part of
England where it already existed. In 1884 Dr. G.A. Boulenger discovered
that the Foulmire frogs were of the Italian form of _Rana esculenta_
known as the variety _lessonæ_, which made it doubtful whether they
could be travelled descendants of Mr. Berney's frogs. So it was
suggested that they were a survival from an introduction by the
Romans--who are always dragged in to help out doubtful cases.
The difference in the French and Italian forms is mainly one of
colour, the type being a beautiful grass-green, whereas _lessonæ_ is
olive-brown. But it has since transpired that _lessonæ_ is not
restricted to Italy as Boulenger thought, for he has more recently
discovered it in Belgium and near Paris, and it has been recorded
from parts of the former Austrian and German Empires. Such differences
as there are in the two forms are not fundamental, and the brown tint
of the Foulmire examples may be due to their environment. Fresh
importations from the Continent have been liberated in recent years
in Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire, and Bedfordshire.
The Edible Frog attains to a rather larger size than the Common Frog.
It is usually without the dark patch extending from the eye to the
shoulder, and the markings of the body--especially the bright yellow and
black marblings of the hinder parts--are darker and bolder. There is
usually a light yellow or green line running down the middle of the back
from the muzzle to the hinder extremity. The most distinctive feature,
however, is restricted to the male sex: at the hinder angle of the
mouth, just below the ear, are external vocal sacs which, when the owner
is inclined to be melodious, become distended with air to the size of
large peas, giving him a very quaint appearance. The croak differs from
that of the Common Frog, and has been described as "more of a loud
snore, exactly like that of the Barn Owl;" but this probably refers
to the vocal efforts of the female, for Bell says it is so loud and
shrill as to have obtained for the frogs the names of "Cambridgeshire
Nightingales" and "Whaddon Organs." The males continue to "sing" after
the breeding season is past, particularly on warm moonlight nights, when
they may be heard for over a mile when the choir consists of several
hundred voices. The notes are "Brekeke, gwarr, ooaar, coarx."
To return to a description of the Edible Frog. Full-grown examples
measure from two and a half to four inches of head and body; the females
larger than the males. The head is more slender than in the Common Frog,
and the brown eardrum is two-thirds of the diameter of the eye. The
teeth on the palate form two oblique lines; and there is a pair of
glandular folds behind the eye. The ground colour of the upper parts
ranges from dull brown through olive to bright green, with dark brown or
blackish spots on the back and larger patches of similar tint on the
limbs. There is usually a bronzy-brown line along each side of the back,
in addition to the central one already named. The back of the thigh is
always spotted with black and white or yellow. Though the thigh of the
Common Frog is barred or blotched, it never bears these additional
spots. The coloration generally is much brighter where the vegetation
is light than in dark swamps with sombre vegetation.
The developmental history of the Edible Frog from the egg to the loss
of the tadpole tail follows much the same course as that of the common
species, and it is not necessary to recapitulate it. The eggs are more
numerous, one female producing from five to ten thousand. The tadpole
condition lasts three or four months. Full-grown tadpoles are about
two and a half inches long, of which more than an inch and a half is
tail. The frog that has just got rid of his tail measures only half an
inch. The young frogs are not such wanderers as their Common cousins,
but remain in the vicinity of their birthplace, unless the pond dries
up. They like to bask in the sun and wait till their food comes within
range of their extensible tongues. They become mature between the fourth
and fifth years.
[Illustration: _Pl. 102A._ _M 164._
Egg-ropes of Toad coiled around water-plants.
*Common Toad.*]
[Illustration: _Pl. 102B._ _M 164._
Newly-hatched Tadpoles clinging to remains of egg-ropes.
*Common Toad.*]
[Illustration: _Pl. 103._ _M 165._
*Common Toad.*
Bufo Vulgaris.]
This is the Frog whose hind legs are served as food in the restaurants
of France and of the French quarters in London. We have not experimented
with them as food, but remember that Frank Buckland, who was keen upon
out-of-the-ordinary dishes, described them as "tasting more like the
delicate flesh of the Rabbit than anything else I can think of." Our old
friend, Miss Susan Hopley, told us that she once unwittingly partook of
a much larger kind in the United States, and innocently remarked, "What
a pity to kill such very young chickens!" She says she was moved to the
remark by the insipidity of the dish.
The Edible Frog is found all over Europe and in Northern Asia.
* * * * *
The beautiful little Tree Frog (_Hyla arborea_), of bright green colour,
with expanded toe-tips which make it an expert climber, is widely
distributed on the Continent, whence it is frequently introduced to our
conservatories. Some of these examples turned loose years ago in the
Isle of Wight have become naturalised in some parts of the island, where
they have become so numerous as to arouse complaints against their noisy
nocturnal croaking during the breeding season.
*Common Toad* (_Bufo vulgaris_, Laurent).
Though in general terms the Toad may be said to be of similar form to
the Frog, there is no need for a very minute catalogue of differences
to enable the reader to discriminate between the two. So well-known are
both amphibians to sight that the majority of persons know them by their
correct names on a casual glance; yet we have met many who confuse them,
and for this minority it is well to give some of the Toad's points.
He has a flatter back than the Frog, the bones of the pelvis not
producing so sharp an angle; and the hind legs are not so long in
proportion to the body, only slightly exceeding the length of head and
body, whereas in the Frog they are one and a half times that length.
The Toad seems more solidly built than the Frog, with broader head,
shorter limbs, and in general aspect is closer to the earth, a heavier,
more grovelling creature than the vaulting Frog. This earthliness is
accentuated by the texture and colour of his skin. Instead of the moist
and shining, bright coloured coat of the Frog we have a dry, dull,
pimply skin so strongly resembling the earth that he is frequently
passed by as a lifeless clod. That is one of the Toad's strong points;
and he has the patience to squat motionless for hours, tiring out any
enemy that looks for movement as proof of life. He is too heavy to take
a leap; instead he progresses by very short jumps on all four feet which
give the impression of being accomplished only by a great effort. But he
rises alertly to his full quadrupedal height when he is considering the
best way to negotiate a worm.
The colour of the Toad varies a good deal according to the nature of the
soil upon which he happens to live. It is usually some tint of brown or
grey, but the brown may be almost red in sandpits, a rich brown or a
dirty brown; the grey may be light or with an olive tinge or a sooty
hue that may pass as black. As he is only active in the evenings and
at night, any of these tints serve to render him inconspicuous in the
general duskiness. Even his bright eyes, being coppery-red in colour, do
not serve to draw attention to him.
[Illustration: _Pl. 104._ _M 166._
*Natterjack Toad.*
Bufo calamita.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 105._ _M 167._
*Natterjack and Common Toad*,
showing principal differences in the two species.]
The pimples of various size that diversify his skin are not mere
ornament, though they help materially to produce the clod-resemblance.
They are glands that on occasion pour out an acrid and offensive fluid
that often saves the Toad when he is caught up in the jaws of some
unsophisticated carnivorous beast or bird. Experience teaches such
enemies to leave the Toad alone. The largest of these glands--the
parotid--may be seen as an elongated, porous swelling behind the eye.
The underside is whitish, the white being qualified always with an
admixture of yellow, brown, or red, sometimes spotted with black.
In the matter of size: taking the head and body for length, average
males measure about two and a half inches and females an inch longer.
Occasionally we may meet with much larger examples, and we may safely
set down such monsters as females. The male has no vocal sacs, internal
or external, as in the Frogs; but both sexes can croak with several
variations of tone. These sounds are emitted much more freely in the
pairing season. The male develops special grasping pads on the palm
and three inner fingers, at the pairing time.
After the breeding season Toads wander away from the water, and
distribute their forces over field, hedgerow, wood, and gardens,
wherever there is an abundance of insect life, for the quantity of
food each Toad consumes is enormous. It includes beetles, caterpillars,
flies, snails, worms, woodlice, and small mice. If the droppings of a
Toad be examined, they will be found to consist very largely of the
indigestible parts of beetles. The Toad spends the hotter part of the
day concealed under the lower foliage of plants, and as many nocturnal
insects seek similar situations in the daytime, he has no difficulty in
enjoying a continual feast. His appetite appears to be always keen, no
matter how well he has fed. Some years ago, when we were pointing to a
portly female in her favourite daytime "form" in the garden, a friend
expressed the opinion that she was overfed, and we remarked that you
cannot overfeed a Toad. Our friend was sceptical, and undertook to
provide more food than she could eat. There followed a hunt for the
fattest caterpillars and the longest worms, and the Toad accepted them
as readily as though she were breaking a fast. The caterpillar hunter
grew tired of the business whilst the Toad was still quite fresh, and
he admitted that with so elastic an integument there was no knowing what
was the limit of a Toad's feeding capacity.
The Toad has the homing faculty well developed. By the judicious
wriggling of his hind quarters he scoops out a hollow in the soil,
preferably under a root or stone, so that he can lie without being
conspicuous. In the evening he sets out hunting, and may travel some
distance; but before morning he is back snugly in his form, where
he may be found during the day for many months. A similar sense of
locality--"orientation" the naturalists call it--is manifested in the
choice of ponds for breeding. Any chance pool, however temporary in
character, will serve the Frog, but the Toad is more particular and
has special requirements for a nursery. Any one who has observed our
batrachians during a series of years must have noticed that scores of
Toads may be seen in early spring, all converging upon a particular
pond, perhaps passing some other piece of water that looks quite
suitable for their purpose. In a garden where we kept a portion wild as
cover for many of the smaller animals, we had a considerable number of
Frogs and Toads that had come there voluntarily. A small pond was freely
visited by them, together with Newts, an occasional snake and stray
aquatic birds. The Frogs and Newts bred there every year; the Toads
never. In a field two or three hundred yards beyond our boundary was
a large deep pond that had formerly been a brickmaker's pit, but the
suitable earth being exhausted it had been allowed to fill with water.
To this pond Toads came in the spring from all quarters. On a mild moist
evening when the great impulse took possession of the Toads, we used
to see scores of them hopping across a well-used road that divided the
grasslands, and next morning would see the lifeless bodies of many that
had been flattened out by motor-wheels in the dark. On the further side
of the pond the continuity of the grassland was again broken by a
railway line, and here you would see them hopping across the track and
climbing over the rails, many, of course, meeting fate in the adventure.
In our present neighbourhood there is a large pond fed by springs from
the plateau gravels of an extensive common. In the days of our boyhood
there was open grassland and copse between the common and the pond with
only an ordinary hedge to mark that it was private land. At the present
time the pond forms a fine piece of ornamental water in a private
garden, and on all sides residential roads surround it. Yet this pond
must have been a Toads' breeding place in the old days, for in the
spring we find Toads on the tarred sidewalks of the roads seeking for
gaps in the fence through which they may reach the desired trysting
place; and we have sometimes put them in the way of finding it. It is
very probable that in such cases the Toads are making their way back to
the identical pond in which they first saw the light--a corollary to the
case of the migrant birds that find their way back to build their nests
in the copse or hedgerow where they were hatched.
The small, black eggs of the Toad differ from those of the Frogs in the
fact that they form a double row embedded in a gelatinous string ten
to fifteen feet in length. Like those of the Frog the eggs by imbibing
water swell to three times their original size. The strings are wound
about the stems of water-weeds by the movements of their parents, and
the little black larvæ are hatched out in about a fortnight. For the
first few days they cling to the egg-strings, then hang tails downwards
from the under sides of leaves. They go through similar stages to those
of the Frog tadpole, and become small tailless Toads, a little more than
half an inch long, in eleven or twelve weeks. It is five years before
they reach maturity; but the full period of life is not known. In old
age they frequently succumb to the attacks of flesh-eating flies whose
eggs are deposited on the back of the Toad, and the small maggots
entering by eye or nostril devour the brain and eyes.
The Common Toad is found all over England, Wales, and Scotland; but
Ireland appears never to have had it, in spite of the legend that St.
Patrick banished it with the Snakes. It occurs all over Europe, through
Siberia, the Amoor, and the Himalayas to China; also on the further side
of the Mediterranean, in Morocco, and Algeria.
*Natterjack* (_Bufo calamita_, Laurent).
Although in general appearance the Natterjack may be said to resemble
the Common Toad, a close inspection reveals differences that at once
distinguish it as a separate species. It is smaller than the common
species and its legs are not only actually but also proportionately
shorter. But the narrow yellow line that runs along the centre of the
head and back is the most distinctive mark, and has suggested one of its
local names--Golden-back. Running Toad is the name by which it is known
in the Fens, and this is a good descriptive name, for owing to the
shortness of the hind limbs the Natterjack does not hop. It runs for
a short distance, then stops for a little, and runs on again.
The maximum length of head and body is three inches, and there is no
marked difference in size between the sexes; but the male develops
nuptial pads on his first three fingers, and he has a large internal
vocal sac whose use causes a great bulging of his bluish throat. The
skin, though warty, is smooth; its ground colour is pale yellowish-brown
tending to olive, with clouding and distant spots of a darker brown or
greenish hue. The underside is yellowish-white with black spots, and
the legs are barred with black. The prominent eyes are greenish-yellow,
and the long porous gland (parotid) behind the eye is smaller than in
the Common Toad.
[Illustration: _Pl. 106._ _M 170._
*Crested Newt, female*,
climbing glass side of tank.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 107._ _M 171._
*Crested Newt, male.*
Molge cristata.]
The Natterjack breeds later than the common species, the pairing not
beginning before the end of April and being spread over May and June.
Like the Frog, it is careless regarding the permanent nature of its
spawning place. The locality chosen is advertised by the rattling noise
of the males, a loud trilling croak continued for a few seconds at a
time, and of sufficient power to be heard a mile away. The egg-strings
are short as compared with those of the Common Toad, being only five or
six feet in length. The blackish tadpoles are only an inch long when
fully grown; but they get through their development into tailless Toads
in less than six weeks, and are then less than half an inch long. In
another year they only measure three-quarters of an inch; and when they
become mature between the fourth and fifth years they are only between
an inch and a half and two inches long.
The Natterjack feeds on insects and worms, and though its activities are
mainly nocturnal, it may be seen running about in full sunshine. When
molested it spreads itself out flat on the ground and pretends to be
dead. The secretion from its glands when annoyed is said to smell "of
gunpowder or india-rubber."
It is plentiful in some English localities, but it appears to be
somewhat migratory, many places whence it may have been recorded last
year failing to yield a specimen to the careful searcher this year. Sir
Joseph Banks first called attention to it as a British species in the
account published in Pennant's "British Zoology" (1776). Part of his
note is worth quoting: "This species frequents dry and sandy places: it
is found on Putney Common, and also near Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire,
where it is called the Natter Jack. It never leaps, neither does it
crawl with the slow pace of a Toad, but its motion is liker to running.
Several are found commonly together, and, like others of the genus, they
appear in the evenings."
In Scotland it is much more rare than in England; but in certain parts
of Ireland, as around Castlemaine and Valentia Harbours in Co. Kerry,
it is plentiful and known by the name of Natchet, which is probably an
Irish corruption of Natterjack. In his bright and entertaining "Seventy
Years of Irish Life," Mr. W. R. Le Fanu gives a native explanation of
their continued presence in Kerry, in spite of St. Patrick's activities:
"Notwithstanding all this, there still exists a species of Toad (the
Natchet, I think) in the barony of Iveragh, in the west of Kerry. I was
fishing in the Carah river the first time I saw them. I said to two
countrymen, who were standing by, 'How was it that these Toads escaped
Saint Patrick?' 'Well, now, yer honour,' said one of them, 'it's what
I'm tould that when Saint Patrick was down in these parts he went up the
Reeks, and when he seen what a wild and dissolute place Iveragh was, he
wouldn't go any further; and that's the rason them things does be here
still.' 'Well now, yer honour,' said the other fellow, 'I wouldn't
altogether give into that, for av coorse the saint was, many's the time,
in worse places than Iveragh. It's what I hear, yer honour, that it was
a lady that sent them from England in a letter fifty or sixty years
ago.'"
The Natterjack is found on the Continent from Denmark and Sweden to
Gibraltar.
As we have naturalised representatives of the Continental Frogs here,
so we have an isolated colony of the European Midwife Toad (_Alytes
obstetricans_), established many years ago in what was then a
nurseryman's garden at Bedford. The circumstances attending its
introduction are not known, but the colony still exists. The female
lays from twenty to fifty bright yellow eggs connected in a long string,
which the male entangles around his thighs and retires with them to his
hole until the embryos have reached the tadpole stage--a period of about
six weeks. At the proper time he seeks the water, when the tadpoles
escape from the eggs, and complete their development much after the
manner of Common Toad tadpoles.
[Illustration: _Pl. 108A._ _M 172._
Male in bridal attire.
*Smooth Newt.*
Molge vulgaris.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 108B._ _M 172._
Male, underside.
*Smooth Newt.*
Molge vulgaris.]
[Illustration: _Pl. 109A._ _M 173._
Example with additional right forelimb.
*Smooth Newt.*]
[Illustration: _Pl. 109B._ _M 173._
Cast-off skin.
*Smooth Newt.*]
*Crested Newt* (_Molge cristata_, Laurent).
The Newts, of which there are three British species, though agreeing
generally with the Frogs and Toads in their passage through an aquatic,
tadpole stage before attaining their mature form, differ in the fact
that they retain through life the compressed tail. In consequence
they constitute, with the Salamanders, the order Caudata or Tailed
Batrachians. As the structure, development and habits of the three
are much alike their story may be told here in general terms, before
proceeding to a description of the species separately.
The entire animal is enclosed in a soft skin which develops mucuous and
sensory apparatus, arranged principally along the sides and the base
of the tail. The two pairs of legs are almost of the same length, the
hinder pair being slightly the longer. The hands have four fingers and
the feet five toes as in the other batrachians. In general form they are
like Lizards, and Linnæus classified them as such and was followed by
the naturalists of the earlier part of the nineteenth century. During
the breeding season the skin of the males develops into a high crest or
fin along the middle of the back. There is a similar development above
and below the tail. These developments have a triple importance: they
are sexual adornments, swimming aids and sensory organs. Usually
terrestrial animals, the adults are impelled to seek the water at the
pairing season, and in many cases travel long distances in order to
reach the stagnant pools that are mostly favoured. There are minute
teeth along the jaws and on the palate; but they serve only to retain
their living food.
The skin serves the same office of respiration as we mentioned in the
case of the Frog, and like it they are compelled when on land to force
air into their lungs by a constant pumping and swallowing action of the
mouth and throat.
[Illustration: *Skeleton of Newt.*]
The male seeks to excite the female by displaying his beautiful crest
and his heightened colours; also by rubbing her with his head and
lashing her with his tail. Then he emits spermatophores in the form of a
mushroom-shaped gelatinous mass whose head consists largely of sperms.
These sink to the bottom, whence the female takes them into her body.
The eggs are, in consequence, already fertilised when deposited. They
are laid singly against a long leaf of one of the pond-weeds--Anacharis,
Callitriche, Water-moss, etc.--which is folded over by the female and
adheres to the egg. They hatch in about a fortnight, the liberated larvæ
being more slender and fish-like than the tadpoles of the Frog. They
have three pairs of external gills, and soon after hatching they develop
two pairs of thread-like organs from the sides of the upper jaw, which
enable them to cling to water plants. The process of development is more
prolonged than in the Frogs and Toads, but it is mostly complete at the
end of summer before the hibernation begins. The little Newts then crawl
out of the water and seek shelter under stones in the immediate
neighbourhood of the pond.