150 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
found them in the company of frogs in such hibernacula as mole-
runs, I do not think they ever join the frogs which sleep under
water. A sleeping toad has the eyes tightly closed, and it can
stand a good few degrees of frost, as I noticed in an animal which
wintered under a broken plant pot in the garden. Indoors, cap-
tive toads, like frogs, often remain active throughout the winter.
I cannot find in my notebook any actual dates for the first
appearance of the smallest "one year old" toads; but I record
the next size (which, quite provisionally, I have long called the
"two year old") in the Forest on the 27th April. The "two
year old" individuals seem far more numerous than the next
smaller size, and they are, I think, later to appear in spring.
I have never seen either a "one year old" or a "two year old"
in the water at any season of the year.
As soon as the eggs are laid (say after the middle of April)
the adult toads, with the exception of a few laggards, vanish
from the ponds; but, I have noticed for some years, they do not
become evident on land until after an interval of two or three
weeks.
From May to October toads may be seen in all parts of the
Forest, often a mile or so from the nearest breeding pond. When
crawling over the dead leaves a toad makes more noise than a
fox crossing the same spot, as we have observed on more than
one occasion. Without doubt, the. reptile must destroy a great
number of the defoliating caterpillars as the latter are preparing
to pupate.
Sometimes, even away from towns or villages, we meet with
toads which have lost an eye; and such victims are numerous
among the colonies living in town gardens or in confinement.
A good deal has been written on this matter, and the general
opinion is that the damage is caused by a dipterous fly which
lays its eggs on the skin or in the nostrils of the reptile. The
larvae eat their way to the brain, or, missing their way, come to
grief in the orbit of the eye, in which case the toad recovers.
The particular insect responsible has been named Lucilia bufoni-
vora by a Russian naturalist, but perhaps special students of
the diptera are not prepared to recognise this as a true species.
In captivity, when toads are fed on bluebottles, it is only too
common for the eggs in a gravid female fly to hatch out in the
stomach and destroy the reptile. This is the more likely to