Fig. 38.–Hyla goeldii. × 1. Female with eggs in the incipient dorsal brood-pouch.
H. coerulea s. cyanea is one of the largest Australian green tree-frogs, ranging from the South to the very North of Australia. The discs are as large as the fully-exposed tympanum. There is no projecting rudiment of the pollex, but a slight cutaneous fold borders the inner side of the tarsus. The skin is smooth and shiny, always a little moist, and studded with numerous rather large pores on the nape and shoulders; this somewhat thickened region forms a prominent fold which begins behind the eyes. The belly and the under parts of the thighs are granular as in most Hylidae. The male has an internal vocal sac; and during the breeding season, which seems to occur during our autumn and winter, develops brown rugosities on the inner side of the first finger. The tongue is round, slightly notched behind and free enough to be protruded a little.
Fig. 39.–Hyla coerulea. Australian Tree-frog (from photographs). Length of the large specimen 4.2 inches. The upper right specimen with vocal sac inflated.
The alternative specific names are most unfortunately chosen, as they apply only to spirit-specimens. During life this tree-frog exhibits a considerable amount of colour-changes. The normal colour is bright green above, white below. A conspicuous feature of this species is the frequent occurrence of white specks or spots, which are probably due to the deposition of guanine, a peculiar white colouring matter. The spots appear in any part of the green skin, and are quite irregular in their distribution. Sometimes they remain for weeks in the same place, or they disappear after a few days and others appear. They are in no way connected with the shedding of the skin, nor do they indicate ill-health. H. coerulea lives well in confinement, and becomes tame enough to take food from one's fingers, even when sitting upon the hand. Some of mine took to living during the daytime in a small box, preferring a crowded condition in companionship with Natterjacks. Others squeeze themselves into the most uncomfortable cracks, while others again prefer the broad leaves of Philodendron. A favourite place for two or three at a time is the funnel-shaped spaces formed by Bromelia-plants. Those specimens which are hidden in the box or in the hollows of rotten stumps are, almost without exception, dull, very dark brownish olive, while those on the Bromelias assume exactly the sombre dull green of its leaves. Lastly, those which sit in the light, exposed places, no matter if upon a leaf, on a white stone, or upon a board, are emerald-green, especially beautiful on hot, sunny days;–and they are not always averse to the full glare of the sun. When squatting upon a flat surface, such as a broad leaf, they tuck the fore-paws under the head like a cat, and with half open eyelids, the pupil contracted to a tiny slit, so that the golden iris is exposed, they remain motionless during the day. They take food when offered, but at night they roam about, either hopping on the ground, or making enormous leaps from leaf to leaf, sometimes deliberately stalking some choice insect, and patiently climbing up a stem, hand over hand. At night their whole aspect is changed. The colour is saturated green, the eyes are transformed into round, projecting shiny black beads, and the head is erect. The ludicrously dreamy, complacent look has given way to wide-awake alertness. They take all kinds of living food. When they find an earthworm, they first look at it, bending the head sharply down, lift themselves upon the fore-limbs and then pounce upon it, nipping the prey with the jaws, and then poking it down deliberately with the hands. Cockroaches are simply lapped up, and disappear in the twinkle of an eye. Mealworms, wood-lice, butterflies and moths, flies and spiders are taken. The stomach of a specimen in the Dresden Museum, from the Aru Islands, contained some four or five young freshwater Crustaceans of the genus Sesarma. They fortunately do not molest smaller frogs of their own kind and of other species. Like many Amphibia they like a change of diet, and ultimately refuse their food if it is unvaried. To my surprise my largest specimen, which measures a little more than 4 inches, takes snails, Helix virgata, half-a-dozen at a time, and on the following day, not during the night, vomits the sucked-out shells in a lump, like the pellets of birds of prey. During this rather painful-looking procedure the whole tongue and about half an inch of the everted gullet are protruded out of the mouth, and are then slowly withdrawn. After having roamed about all night, they return to their respective resting-places, where each individual is sure to be found in exactly the same spot, day after day. They do not mind being looked at, but if taken up and put back they avoid that place for perhaps a week, taking shelter somewhere else.
Both sexes have a voice, but that of the female is only a grunting noise, while the male inflates its gular sac and sends forth a sharp cracking sound, which can turn into a regular bellowing like the gruff barking of an angry dog. They bellow at any time of the year, frequently on the approach of a shower or during a thunderstorm. Certain noises will also induce them to bark. The rattling produced by the syringing of the greenhouse, sawing of wood, hammering, the raking of the gravel, or even the scraping of boots on the gravel-path is liable to start one of the males, and the others are sure to chime in.
According to Fletcher, H. coerulea and H. aurea lay their eggs in round white frothy patches, which float in the water, chiefly during the months of August and September; but when the spring months are very dry, the pairing is delayed until the following January. Several other Australian species of Hyla, e.g. H. ewingi, spawn at any time of the year if the conditions are favourable. They attach their eggs to submerged blades of grass or to twigs.
H. aurea is one of the commonest and most beautiful species, occurring throughout Australia and Tasmania, excepting of course in the large deserts. It has the appearance and restlessness of a water-frog, is not unlike Rana esculenta, and grows to about three inches in length. The tympanum is very distinct, but rather small. The fingers are without a pollex-rudiment, the tarsus has a fold along its inner edge. The adhesive discs are decidedly small. The male has two internal vocal sacs, which bulge out sideways. The skin is smooth and shiny. The under parts are white; the upper parts are, speaking generally, a mixture of blue and olive, with blue or brown spots, but spirit-specimens give no idea of the beauty which this changeable species can assume. Sometimes the same individual is saturated blue and green, with several longitudinal stripes of burnished copper along the back; a few minutes later the stripes glitter like gold, and in other moods the whole upper surface is mottled blue, green, and brown. My specimens often went into the water and did not climb. The food is said to consist chiefly of other small frogs in preference to insects.
Nototrema differs from Hyla in so far as the female has a pouch on the back for the reception of the eggs. This bag is formed by an infolding of the skin; it opens backwards in front of the vent, it has a sphincter and is permanent, although it distends to larger dimensions when in use. An initial stage of such a pouch is possessed by Hyla goeldii (Fig. 38). The pupil is horizontal, the tongue can be protruded but little; the tympanum is free, and the adhesive discs of the fingers and toes are well developed. These "marsupial frogs," of which about half-a-dozen species are known, live chiefly in the tropical forest-region of South America, notably from Peru to Venezuela.