Description: Terrestrial or burrowing anurans with thick, warty skin and short legs. Genus Bufo is characterized by toothless jaws and enlarged parotoid glands behind the eyes. Toads are typically more terrestrial than frogs, have a drier skin, and lack extensive webbing between the toes. The "warts" on the skin produce a toxic substance that can irritate a predator's mucous membranes. The two species in the Northeast are primarily nocturnal, spending the day under rocks, logs, dead leaves, or in loose soil. Both species breed in early spring (the American toad typically earlier than the Fowler's toad) in ditches, small temporary ponds, or slow, shallow streams. Males of both species can be heard calling in large breeding concentrations in appropriate habitat during April and May (and through June in the case of Fowler's toads), during both the day and night. Breeding takes place during amplexus (the mounting of the female by the male): the female lays long strands of eggs in the water which are fertilized externally by the male. The eggs hatch into tadpoles after about a week. The small black tadpoles of both species look very similar, but are distinct from frog tadpoles. The tadpoles metamorphose into terrestrial adults in mid June through July. Both species feed on insects, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, snails and other invertebrates.