It almost looks like this toad is licking his lips in anticipation of capturing his dinner. I’ve called this vintage drawing toad’s dinner but I suspect the author of Reptiles and Birds: A Popular Account of Their Various Orders, With a Description of the Habits and Economy of the Most Interesting would cringe to see this book illustration named that way. The book had three illustrators and it looks to me that this toad drawing is the work of Albin Mesnel (1830-1875).
In this toad drawing, we have a toad contemplating a bug on a rock. We can only assume that the bug is destined to become the toad’s dinner. The landscape surrounding the frog includes grasses and leafy plants.
This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.
