The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1873-12-25
vHIR3aals.

80 ~@~hS~ ~
food into HE mouth, as the Euro.
pcan toads do, although he uses
them freely to wipe uut Of his
mouth any i"edible or disagreed
BILE substance. When our toad
gets into his mouth, part Of an in.
sect too large for his tongue to
thrust down his throat (and | have
known oftheirattcmp'ing a wound.
ed bumniing bird). hc resorts to
the nearest STONE or cIo,l, and
prssses fhe protruding part of his
mouth against it, and thus crowds
it down his throat. This can he
observed at any time by putting
a locusl's hind legs together and
throwing it before toad.
On one occasion | gave n "yel-
low'striped' locust to n little toad
in his second summer, when he
was In the middle of u yer, wide
gravel walk. IN a moment he had
ttst'eais's head down his throat,
its hinder parts protrnding He
looked around for a stone or c!od;
hut finding none ut hand in ei,hor
direction, he bowed Iis head aud
crept along, pushing the Locust
against the ground. Bat the an
gle with the ground wa- rro small,
and my walk too we'll rolled. t.
increase the angle he Strengthened
his hind legs NJ, but ia vain. Al
length he threw up his hi"dquar
tiers and actually stood OH his head
Or rather on the lncust sticking
ont OF h's month, and alter repeat
ing this once or twice succeeded
in "gctting himself outside Of Iii.
dinner"
But these instances OF ingeniont
adaptation TO the circumstances
were exceeded by funryrar-ol'l
toad 1T Antioch College. l was
tossing him oarth-worms while
digging, aud presently threw HIM
80 large = specimen that, he was
,ibli. ed 20 attack ono end only
That end was Instantly Transferred
TO his stomcls,fhe other end wri;h
ing free in air and coilcd abont tn,
toad's head. Ilo wa tel until it,
writings gave him a cllance,swal
hwcd halt an inch; thea taking II
nip With lis jaws, waited Tor ,
chance t. draw in another hal
inch. But there were so many
haltinches ~ dispose of that Il
length his j,ws grew tired ,lost lhei
hrniness Of grip, and the worn
crawled ont five Fights OF an Incl
bet wcen each half inch swallow
The toad perccivink this, by'oagi,
his hind f,ot to aI'i hIsy.ys, grasp
ing biz abb rnen with his foot
and by a little Efforts getting hole
Of the worm IN his sto,,'acl. from
,lle outside, he thus by his to-"
held fast to what lie gained by
each swallow, and presently sue
ce.ded in gettinS the worm entire
y down.
The amount which n toad Cai
eat is surprising. One nornin!
| threw Il squash bug to- a y"Nn.
toad. lie rnaPped it up but M
mediately rvj cted it, wipei BIZ
,noa'h viii great energy, an'
then hepped away with extra"r-
binary rapidly. 1 was so mucl
amused tlpat I gathered some
more Of the same bn.s and Car
rird tlren To n fav"Sitc old toat
at the corner If the h"Dsc. II,
a,e them all without making ar,
wry faces. ! gathered al that
cnnld find OH nay vines, and h,
! ate them all, %. | hen broueh
him some larvae of p, gaera min
is,ra, three quarters grown, an
succeeded in cDiicihg him to pm
81 of them on top OF his sqnasl
bugs. Finding that his virtue MA
not proof against the caterpillar
when ! put them on the end of
straw and ,ickled his nose vii,
them, lie at length turned am
crep,pandcr The piazza, where b
reinairscd fur four days digestIn
4
his feast. -irof. Scudder.
AMo4oatlie grtve errors Of u,
late Congress WAS thcrepcal ofth