ESSEX REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 149
the young ones hide themselves during the winter? These
are a couple of questions often asked, and not yet completely
answered.
In Essex the toad spawns from a fortnight to a month later
than the frog, in waters where both species breed; but, I am
convinced, there is a great deal of irregularity about the business
My toads, kept in a London garden, where they had a "natural"
pond and an abundance of plant cover and animal life, spawned
much later than truly wild toads observed in Essex. In 1910
my dates were 11th April for the fields, and 23rd April in the
garden. In 1911 the dates were 10th April for wild toads, and
20th in the garden; while in 1912 my toads spawned 32 days
later than the Essex wildlings, which had already deposited
eggs on the 20th March.
Even in the wild state we find toads dropping their eggs on
the ground before reaching the water, and when this happened
in the garden, the earthworms fed on the threads—or, at least,
dragged them far down into their burrows. Toads' eggs are
frequently overlooked. Sometimes they resemble strands of
black worsted, carrying no idea of eggs, and of course quite un-
like frog spawn. One string which I measured was 16 feet long,
and I estimated that it contained about 4,000 eggs, for I counted
from 20 to 25 in different inch lengths.
In 1918, when toads were markedly numerous throughout
the south-eastern counties, we thought that amongst the reeds
round the lake at Birch Hall there were at least ten toads actually
visible for each yard of the bank. The males, of course,
predominated. We lifted one bunch from the water, finding
it to consist of no less than twelve adult males surrounding the
single female; and other groups which we handled contained
from ten to three males to each nuclear female. The date this
year was the 22nd March, but spawn was not seen in this water
until a couple of days later.
The voice of the toad is a clear, almost bell-like, "honk,
honk"; sometimes it sounds like the distant yapping of a
young puppy; and it is uttered under water as well as in the
air. The crooning of the frog is nearly over when the toad con-
cert begins.
In Essex the first toads are seen in mild weather in February.
Probably they never hibernate under water; although I have