The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1878-05-09
Robbie and the Topds.

Little five-year Robbie bad O
great affection for all kinds of animals,
and owned q cat and dog which he
could never bear to have out of his sight,
and it was all that mamma could do to
induce him to allow Prince and Tabbie
to go to the stable at night instead of
sharing his bed. Last Summer, how
ever, while he was in the country, spend
ing a few weeks with grandpa, he
, formed new friendship, which for a
time drove all thought of his old play
fellows out of his mind.
One day, while he was playing in the
garden, he espied big, fat toad sitting
under lettuce-leaf, and busily engaged
in swallowing large worm which he
had just caught.
Now Robbie has an inquiring mind, SO
instead of rushing up and soaring him,
as most children would have done, he
stood quietly by to watch him.
The worm was large and strong and
had decided objection to being swal-
lowed. The toad was, however, firm in
his purpose; he struggled, and swal-
lowed a half inch at time, while the
worm writhed around above his head
and seemed about to crawl forth from
his confinement, as the toad's jaws were
losing their grip. But he WAS not to be
defrauded of his dinner; so, bringing
his right hand to his aid, he succeeded,
after little effort, in getting hold of the
worm in his stomach from the outside,
and held fast while he made an end of
his prey.
Robbie at once ran to the house and
told his grandpa and mother what he
had seen. They could hardly credit it,
but the next day when grandpa went
out to hoe his potatoes, Robbie followed
to collect the earth-worms for his pet,
who made his home under large clump
of lilac bushes close by the parlor win
dows. He nad no trouble with the small
ones, but when given an enormous old
fellow, grandpa with his own eyes saw
the same performance Robbie had wit
messed the day before. After that, Mr..
Toad lived on the fat of the land, so to
speak, for whenever worms or bugs
were found they were thrown to him.
In these same lilacs yellow-bird hail
made her nest, and now there were four
beautiful baby birds. Their mother was
very fond of them, and spent all of her
time in caring for them-bringing them
food, covering them from wind and rain
with her soft wings, or singing them to
sleep with the most delightful music.
The nest was small and the birds got
bigger very fast, and it seemed some
times, when the branches swayed more
than usual, that they must fall out. One
afternoon when Robbie went to look at
them from the parlor windows, there
were but three in the nest. One had
gone, but where? He looked all around
under the bushes, but could not find it..
The next day another one was missing,
and the day after the nest was empty.
But as grandpa was hunting for them
on the ground, he saw something Just
disappearing down the toad's throat that
looked suspiciously like the legs of a
very small bird. The thought came to
him that he might possibly be respon-
sible for the death of all the downy
darlings, and at once determined to have
him killed in order to see if it were 80.
Robbie begged for his life, but grand
pa would not relent and called John to
come with the ak. When Mr.. Toad
came to be dissected, two of the birds
were found in his stomach, and they
felt no doubt as to what had been the
fate of the others.
In one corner of the front yard there
was large fountain, and oftentimes,
just at night, the shrill notes of tree
toad could be heard coming, seemingly,
from the middle of the basin. After
much search, Robbie found him perched
on the edge of the fountain, where he
was just moistened by the spray. He
seemed quite at home there, and grew
so much accustomed to having people
about that he would sing even though
they came quite near.
He sang great deal, and as his voice
was strong and shrill, he could be heard
at quite distance. Mrs. Spencer, who
lived across the street, was an invalid
and very nervous, and he annoyed her
so much that she often threatened to
have her husband shoot him if he were
not disposed of in some other way.
The tree-toad belongs to the genus
Hyla, possesses great ventriloqual pow
ers, and has the faculty of changing its
color to that of the object on which il
rests.
Toads can live for long time without
food, and some people suppose without
air also. They are often found i'm
bedded in clay, solid trunks of trees,
and even in rocks, where they are
thought to have been for many years,
perhaps centuries, yet on being let out
of their prison they hoped off as lively
as ever.
The opinion of most scientific natura-
lists, however. is that this is either un-
true or inaccurate. That they can ex-
list for some time without food is true,
but in cases where they have been
found imbedded in those apparently
solid substances, there was, in fact,
some slight crevice where they obtained
air, and small insects sufficed to prevent
starvation.
The toad feeds ON worms and insects,
and generally goes about at night after
his food. 1t swallows its prey alive,
and oftentimes they may be seen to
twitcb, on account of the tickling
caused by large beetle or cricket in
the stomach. They are of great service
in the garden, and SO much are they
priced in England that they are collect
ed and sold in the markets, a shilling
being the usual price.
The toad differs from the frog in
having a long, well developed tongue
and no teeth.
Tho killing of a woman in a WOOn,