_P. punctatus._–The "Mud-diver" has the upper parts covered with small warts, and is about 1½ inch in length. Its coloration is variable, and changes much. One day it may appear greenish brown, the next day pale grey; in the daytime perhaps with many bright green spots, and in the evening spotless and unicoloured. The under parts are mostly white, sometimes with a fleshy tinge. The male has a voice like "kerr-kerr" or "creck-creck," uttered during the breeding season, which lasts from the end of February until May, according to the temperature and the more Southern or Northern locality. Occasionally they breed a second time in the summer or autumn. The male develops nuptial excrescences, chiefly three rough patches on the inner side of the fore-limbs or on the inner side of the first two fingers, while the belly and thighs are covered with small granules. In the mode of copulation, the laying of the small and numerous eggs, the hatching of the larvae in a tail- and gill-less condition, this genus closely resembles _Pelobates_; but the tadpoles never reach a colossal size, the usual length being 2 inches, and even this is comparatively large for so small a species. It inhabits the greater part of France, most of Portugal, and the southern half of Spain, avoiding, however, the central plateaux and the mountain-ranges. Its habits are essentially nocturnal, {166}living in the immediate vicinity of the water, into which it hops with a long jump in order to hide in the mud. Easily kept, it breeds regularly in captivity, according to circumstances at almost any time of the year. _P. caucasicus_ has been discovered in the Caucasus at an altitude of 7000 feet. The remaining genera of this family contain only a few species each, and are restricted to South-Western Asia, the Malay and Papuan Islands. The commonest is _Leptobrachium_, which ranges from the Himalayas to Borneo and Java. Pupil vertical. Vomerine teeth sometimes absent. Tongue roundish, very slightly nicked behind. Tympanum indistinct. Omosternum small, cartilaginous. Male with internal vocal sacs. Tarsus with a roundish tubercle. Some of the species, e.g. _L. carinense_ from the Karen Hills, attain to a large size, namely, 6 inches; they seem to live on rats and mice, and one specimen contained a young squirrel. FAM. 3. BUFONIDAE (Toads).–The formula:–no teeth in the upper and lower jaws, vertebrae procoelous and without ribs, sacral diapophyses dilated,–is sufficiently diagnostic of this cosmopolitan family. The generally entertained notion that toads have a rather thick-set, short-limbed, warty appearance, does not apply to all the members of the family. The majority are quite terrestrial, many are burrowing, the Javanese _Nectes_ is aquatic, the Afro-Indian _Nectophryne_ is arboreal, while the Australian _Myobatrachus_ and the Mexican _Rhinophrynus_ eat termites and are correspondingly modified; lastly, _Bufo jerboa_ is a slender, long-legged creature.