Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/49

INTRODUCTION disposition when in the tadpole state, and again when leaving their watery home for the first time, it is strange that a more or less solitary life is led until parental calls come to them in Spring. Strange too, but none the less true, that all the Frogs (and later the Toads) of one's own neighbourhood should arrive at the conclusion at about the same time that spawning time is due. During the Winter they have been in hiding, passing the lone days and cold nights in a state of suspended animation, in odd corners and places safe from danger. Then, at the magic call of the sun, they awake from their torpor, and the great rush to the old breeding quarters comes to pass. If one catches them at the height of their journey, a wondrous sight meets the eye as the amphibians are seen approaching the water from all four points of the compass. Many, as in the march during infancy, perish by the way, impaled by the Heron's dagger-like beak, or a Hawk's fierce claw. Others again are crushed under foot, or run over. But the fittest pass through the great journey unscathed, and they make for the water where, the battalions having taken up positions at the breeding ground, they commence to search for partners with much croaking and ceremony. True they exhibit at such time somewhat repulsive antics, as groups of several individuals may be found in one writhing mass, but this must be overlooked when one remembers the low type of creature which sometimes carries out the perpetuation of its species in the manner indicated. The male of both Frog and Toad is distinctly the smaller of 33