f some
pool or marsh, we shall soon learn to know the sound of his voice,
especially when perhaps he and five hundred of his family are, with
their heads half out of the water, amusing themselves in the performance
of a concert, each striving to outdo his neighbour in the loudness of
his tones. He is a first-rate swimmer; and when driven out of the hole
in which he passes the warm hours of the day, he plunges into the water,
and skims along the surface some distance before he dives below it.
Only on such occasions, or when, perhaps, a dark thunder-cloud shrouds
the sky, does he appear in the daytime, and give utterance to his notes.

He feeds on snails and water creatures; sometimes on crayfish and other
crustaceans; and occasionally, if a duckling or young chicken come in
his way, he will not scruple to take them into his capacious maw.

His ordinary size is from six to seven inches; but specimens have been
met with which have measured nineteen--and even twenty--inches, from the
nose to the extremity of their feet. He has a smooth black skin above,
with a greenish hue on the head, and lower part of the body
greyish-white--the throat being white, dotted with green. He can take
enormous leaps; and is so admirable a swimmer, that specimens have been
known to exist in the water without once landing for several years.

THE SOLITARY FROG.

Inland, where no water is to lie found, we shall meet with a creature of
an olive colour--the back covered with tubercles--and with a blunt nose.
It might easily be mistaken for a toad, though it is a veritable frog.
Even in winter, before the snow has disappeared, we may see the hardy
little creature making its way over the frozen surface of the ground.
At the breeding season, however, it returns, like other frogs, to the
water. It resides for the chief part of the year in sandy districts, in
which it forms burrows, about six inches in depth, by means of a flat,
sharp-edged spur, with which it is furnished. Into these burrows it
makes its way backwards, very much as a crab crawls into its hole when
seeking shelter from danger. There it sits, with its head poked out,
watching for passing prey.

THE SAVANNAH CRICKET FROG.

Both in the Northern and Southern States we shall find a merry little
creature, with a voice greatly resembling that of the cricket. Living
near the borders of stagnant pools, it frequently takes its seat on the
large leaves of water-lilies and other aquatic