. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. RANINAE 269. for the concert, which takes place in the water, beginning at sunset, and continuing until the early dawn. A few individuals here and there utter a single note, " gwarr, 00-arr," or " coarx," but these are only preliminaries. The precentor—the country- folk in North Germany firmly believe that in each pond one old male holds the dignified position of choir-master—begins with a sharp-sounding " brekeke," and this is the signal for all the others to chime in with the same notes, varied with all sorts of other so
. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. RANINAE 269. for the concert, which takes place in the water, beginning at sunset, and continuing until the early dawn. A few individuals here and there utter a single note, " gwarr, 00-arr," or " coarx," but these are only preliminaries. The precentor—the country- folk in North Germany firmly believe that in each pond one old male holds the dignified position of choir-master—begins with a sharp-sounding " brekeke," and this is the signal for all the others to chime in with the same notes, varied with all sorts of other sounds, bass, tenor, and alto, each performer filling its resounding vocal sacs to bursting size, and these bags then look as if they acted as floats. When there are several hundred of these sociable creatures, the din is , and may be heard more than a mile off. There can be too much of this, just as there can be too many nightingales; and a well-stocked pond in the neighbourhood may become a perfect nuisance. There are accounts of servants having been employed in the Middle Ages for the sole purpose of keep- fig- 52.—Rmm esmUnta. ,1 - 1 1 1 i- j_i 1 Male with inflated ex- mg the noise down by beatmg the pond, ternai vocal sacs, x 1. throwing stones into the water, or otherwise disturbing the frogs. Sometimes more vigorous and lasting measures seem to have been taken ; the monks exorcised them in order not to be disturbed in their vigils. Near the former monastery of Chorin, in the province of Brandenburg, the frogs have still the reputation of keeping very quiet on account of some powerful abbot who threatened them with awful con- sequences if they did not forego their concerts. The length of life which these frogs can attain is quite unknown. They do not reach maturity until the fourth or fifth year, but this is long before they stop growing, and it is no exaggeration to say that few, if any, frogs die of old age, since they have so many enemies. The stork is t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1895
