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Show 902 MR. STANLEY S. FLOWER ON THE [NOV. 14, near Alor Star in Kedah, and also near Jenan in the same State caught a particularly handsome little frog which is referred provisionally to M. ornata, but which differs considerably in appearance from Bangkok individuals. Habits. This very active, elegant frog is to be found hiding during the day under stones, logs, &c. in the crevices of the mud in dried-up pools aud among dead leaves. Once I found two in an ants' nest, situated in the ground under some brickwork. It comes out at dusk and seems to remain abroad all night. At night in December and January these frogs may be heard croaking in Bangkok; considering their small size they produce an astonishing volume of sound, the noise seems to m e indescribable on paper. Colour (in life). Usual Bangkok specimens.-Above reddish olive, with a large dark brown mark on the back beginning between the eyes, then narrowing and then widening as it extends to the hind part of the body ; a broad darker brown line along the side of the head and body ; limbs with irregular dark brown cross-bars ; a dark horseshoe mark round the vent. Lower surfaces white, extensively spotted with brown on the throat and chest. Iris : golden ring round pupil, remainder golden speckled with bronze. The Penang specimen was above yellow marked with rich dark brown, and below pale immaculate buff. Size. The largest Siamese specimens noted measured-snout to vent, d 22 mm., 2 23 m m . Penang specimen (sex not recorded), snout to vent 24 m m. Distribution. Kashmir, India, Ceylon, Burma, Southern China, Cambodia, Siam, Malay Peninsula. Tadpoles. At the end of December 1896 I found tadpoles of this species in a small pond in Bangkok; they were numerous all through January and February 1897, and the young frogs were leaving the water at the beginning of March. On revisiting the same pond the following winter (1897-98) I failed to see a single specimen. Description. Length of body once and three quarters its width, a little more than half the length of the tail. Nostrils placed close together on the upper surface of the head, nearer the end of the snout than the eye. Eyes on the sides of the body, visible from above and from below, their distance apart is about five times the distance between the nostrils, and also much greater than the width of the mouth. On the back between the eyes are a pair of shields, oval in outline, placed side by side; they are not conspicuous in the living tadpole, but iii specimens shrunk in spirit they become so. Spiraculum median, on lower surface of body, opening into a transparent sheath of skin, in front of the anus. Anus median, opening in the lower edge of the subcaudal crest. Tail about four times as long as deep, ending in a verv finely produced point; upper crest not extending on to the back" |