The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-17
CROAHlNG FkOGS.


 Amongst the most characteristic sounds of a midsummer night are the near the swamps or along the margin of the rivers at this season, we no lon
 ger hear the shrill chorus of the peep
 ing frogs or the more deliberate "kur-
 r-r-r-k ker-r-r-r-r-k of the tree toad but instead there are the loud low
 pitched intermittent voices of the
 croaking frogs of which there are seve-
 ral species fairly common in the east
 ern states.
 | The best known of these croakers-by
 name, at all events--is the ball. frog
 He is seldom heard in the swamps: he
 prefers the borders of divers an of
 large wooded ponds. Until the settled
 warm weather arrives he is usually si-
 lent and then his deep bass voice may
 be heard every evening. sometimes for distance of a mile or two. To many people it suggests the believing of q bull, but to my ear it sounds more like the praying of a mule. It is certainly loud enough to be the voice of an ele- |, ! F syllables, of which the most clever translation l have ever seen is Stat Of F. S. Matthews-"Rum, pug O rum, jug O rum, more rum, more rum'-cer- tainly an appropriate cry from 3ae wno is perpetually wet to the skin
 The bulfrog is the largest of all American frogs, and often measures four and half inches from the tip of his nose to the end of his body, IT, col or he is dull olive green on the back sometimes with patches or bands oe a darker shade; the head is generally vel Jewish green, and the under parts are yellowish white. But there are many local differences in marking, snd there is no color standard which would an- swer for all localities. The ear-drums of this frog are very conspicuous be- ing considerably larger than the eyes. His hind feet are more widely webbed than the feet of most frogs, but ror- haps no mark will serve to identify him more easily than the fold in the skin which begins behind the eye, curves over the ear drum and runs down un- der the front leg. This fold is charac- teristic.
 A near relative of the bullfrog is the green frog, smaller creature which we may see on the bank of any swampy pond. He is about threa inch es long, coored with several shades of olive green above, and beneath dull white shading off into yellow under the chin. As we walk along, one green frog after another will spring from the bank, often with a curious gulping cry, and disappear In the water with Hump" If we watch one closely we may see him striking out beneath t,e surface, to rise again and float half supported by the stalks of some aquatic plant, or to squat, half-slbmcrged on sunken log or stump.
 Again we may see him seated con- tentedly on a lily pad, where he utters, at intervals, short explosive sounds which might be suggested by picking the open strings of cello.
 Sometimes he is answered in a some what different key by neighbor on the other side of the pond. The ear drums of the green frog are even larger in than those of the bull frog; the skin on hls pack IS somewhat rough, in some specimens bearing strong resemblance to the rind Of a green cucumber.
 The brown frog is a smaller species. being only about two and a half inches long He is not fond of swamps or 5ther stagnant water. and is usually found either in grass or in the neigh borhood of cool streams and springs This is a very common frog throughout the eastern states, but it is not in any sense gregarious The color of his back Is light brown with irregular rows of arge obling, dark-brown spots extend ing the length of the body. Outside of .hese spots and separating them from others along the sides are bright yellow