OCR Text |
Show 662 DR. J. ANDERSON ON REPTILES AND [June 18, and that it is Rana cyanophlyctis, and not R. tigrina that has this habit, Lieut. Elower says :-" With regard to the frog Rana cyanophlyctis which jumps over the surface of the water .... I never saw Rana tigrina do so. When disturbed on the bank, it always takes a plunge into the water head foremost, and goes straight to the bottom, but 7?. cyanophlyctis jumps, alighting on the surface on all lours, and then goes on again, sometimes making a dozen leaps before it finally goes under the surface. Also it will jump out of the water in the middle of a pond, and leap along the siu-face in a wonderful manner, finally jumping out on the land." Colonel Yerbury also observed the same habit in the Aden frogs, but he seems to think that it is confined to the younger individuals, as will be seen from the following note extracted from his field-book :-" These frogs were in great abundance in the bed of the stream at Haithalhim. The small ones were everywhere and were frequently seen leaping along the surface of the water in the manner so often seen in India and Ceylon. The big ones were seen hiding in the deep pools or else lying with their noses out of water among the giant reeds in six or eight inches of water. In either case they required searching for, and, when found, catching-a by no means easy matter. I never recollect seing a big fellow bound along the surface of the water, and can quite understand how such a method of progression is unsuited to their size." 2. BUFO PENTONI, Andr. 3 d • Lahej. 5 d • Haithalhim. These specimens agree in every respect with those from Suakin on which I founded the species, except that the horny induration on the swelling of the snout is absent, and in some specimens recently collected by m e at Suakin it is also wanting. It must, therefore, not be regarded as a persistent character, until more information is obtained as to its true nature. Mr. Matschie has recorded the occurrence oiBufo arabicus, Eiipp., at Aden, but it is just possible that it may prove to be B. pentoni. 3. BUPO ANDERSONI, Boulenger. (Plate XXXVII. fig. 3.) 2 jr. and one tadpole. Lahej. This is the first notice of the occurrence of this Toad at Aden, but Mr. Boulenger has recorded it from Muscat, and the B. viridis, var. orientalis, Werner1, from the latter locality may possibly prove to be the same species. The following is a description of the tadpole of this Toad:- The length of the body is about four sixths the length of the tail, and its breadth almost three fifths of its own length. The depth of the tail is about one fourth of its length. The nostrils are situated about equally distant from the snout and the eyes ; and the interval between them is about one half the distance between 1 Verh, zool.-bot. Ges,. Wien, xiv. 1893, p. 20, |