Earth and Ourselves

The Toad that Charms
WE have lust unearthed the most charming (and 1 use the adjective deliberately) little toad, neatly hidden in a hole scooped out under a broken flagstone. He is about the site of hall-a-erown, round and plump and smiling, with the bright eyes that one associates with even the stouter, older and very much plainer members of his family.
He is so friendly that we like to think he is the same that wefound Ian summer under a different stone. That one was only about the size of a shilling and he used to crawl up to the .surface of his hole In the evenings when we went to have a Jew minutes' converse. don with him. We are hoping that he has come to stay and that he will go on improving in appearance and friendliness.
If roads live — and I am told they do — to as much as forty years, il will probably be quite a long time before he becomes as stout and plain as are the ones that one generally meets with In gardeity.
TOADS in this country are rather sluggish and silent but in Africa they are much more vocal. and Ivan Sanderson in his " Animal Treasure" describes the choirs that tune up in the mating season. " Colonle:. of toads." he tells us, " are dotted about the countryside within hearing of one another. . . Suddenly one toad. acting as a sort of precentor, will begin: ' qulrrr-rrr-whirr, quir-rrrrrr-whirr,' the others of his colony joining in perfect rhythm. Other colonies take it up until the whole countryside Lv deafened with the racket, which is as precise as a machine. All at once it ceases, as if every toad had been struck dead at the same instant by an electric current. Occasionally one choir far off will fall to stop and will carry on for a few seconds like an echo. The effect is very remarkable and remains as unexpected as it is irritating throughout the night."
Another description is given in this book of the way toads will shed their old skins, first by inflating themselves until they burst, then by scraping off the old skin with their hind feet and stuffing it into their mouths with their hands and eating it. It certainly must be revolting to watch, but it does point to very tidy habits on the part of the toad and should. I think, he listed among this creature's undeniable virtues—even by those who fail to appreciate its charm !
Julian