Page:The Zoologist, 4th series, vol 3 (1899).djvu/125

Rh swimming in a long continuous line, which took the form of a figure of 8. As long as I watched them they kept on steadily tracing this figure, like the dancers in a Scotch reel.

After completing their metamorphosis the young Toads, then hardly larger than the common house-fly, and nearly black in colour, soon begin to change to various shades of brown or dark grey, being always lighter on the under surface. Many acquire a more or less rufous tint, a deep dull brick-red or rust-colour being very frequent. At this stage of their existence they are decidedly pretty and even lively little creatures. Numbers of them may be seen in early summer clambering actively about the wet grass-blades and herbage growing by the pond or ditch where they were bred, but not as yet venturing far from the brink. Owing, however, to their minute size, they often escape notice.

Notwithstanding that the breeding season of the Toad is rather later than that of the Frog (according to Bell the ova are deposited about a fortnight later), the general exodus of the tadpoles of both seems to take place almost simultaneously. For this a thoroughly wet state of the ground is necessary, and, though their departure sometimes occurs much earlier, it is often delayed until the first soaking rain in August. In 1889 some young Toads in this neighbourhood (Blaxhall, Suffolk) had left water by the 27th of June, remaining, however, up to that time among the wet grass close to the ditch from whence they had emerged. On the 11th of July, however, after a heavy rain, young Toads were swarming all over the low meadows, and about the roads and lanes leading from them; but as yet none were to be seen on the higher ground. As these hordes of young batrachians spread themselves abroad over the face of the country, they show a great deal of perseverance and determination in their attempts to surmount such obstacles as bar their progress. It is amusing to watch these little fellows striving manfully to climb an almost perpendicular bank; time after time they come slipping down, but at once resume their efforts with unwearied zeal, and, being good climbers, their perseverance is often rewarded with success. On these journeys their way is beset with many dangers, and their ranks are sadly thinned by numerous enemies—such as Rats, Hedgehogs, various members of the Crow family, Fowls, Ducks, Corn-Crakes, and many other