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Handbook of Nature-Study 



excited, evidently holding his breath since the pulsating throat 

 would become rigid. There was a particularly alert attitude of the 



whole front part of 

 the body and espec- 

 ially of the eyes and 

 the head; then the 

 neck would stretch 

 out long and thin, 

 the orange snout ap- 

 p r o a c h stealthily 

 within half an inch 

 of the smug aphid, 

 and then there was a 

 flash as of lightning, 

 something too swift 

 to see coaming out of 

 the eft's mouth and 

 swooping up the un- 



Red-spotted newt stalking plant-lice. 



suspecting louse. 



Then there would be 

 a gulp or two and all would be over. If the aphid happened to be a big 

 one, the eft made visible effort to swallow it. Sometimes his eftship 

 would become greatly excited when he first saw the plant-louse, and he 

 would sneeze and snort in a very comical way, like a dog, when eager 

 for game. 



The following is the history of this species as summarized from Mrs. S. 

 H. Gage's charming "Story of Little Red Spot." The egg was laid in some 

 fresh water pond or the still borders of some stream where there is a 

 growth of water weed. The egg, which is about the size of a small pea, 

 is fastened to a water plant. It is covered with a tough but translucent 

 envelope, and has at the center a little yellowish globule. In a little less 

 than a month the eft hatches, but it looks very different from the form 

 with which we are most familiar. It has gray stripes upon its sides and 

 three tiny bunches of red gills on each side, just back of its broad head. 

 The tail is long and very thin, surrounded by a fin ; it is an expert swim- 

 mer and breathes water as Hoes a fish. After a time, it becomes greenish 

 above and buff below, and by the middle of August it develops legs and 

 has changed its form so that it is able to live upon land; it no longer has 

 gills or fin ; soon the coat changes to the bright orange hue which makes 

 the little creature so conspicuous. 



The newt usually keeps hidden among moss, or under leaves, or in 

 decaying wood, or other damp and shady places; but after a rain, when 

 the whole world is damp, it feels confidence enough to go out in the open, 

 and hunt for food. For two and a half years it lives upon land and then 

 returns to the water. When this impulse comes upon it, it may be far 

 from any stream ; but it seems to know instinctively where to go. Soon 

 after it enters the water, it is again transformed in color, becoming olive- 

 green above and buff below, although it still retains the red spots along 

 the back, as mementos of its land life; and it also retains its pepper-like 

 dots. Its tail develops a fin which extends along its back and is some- 

 what ruffled. In some mysterious way it develops the power to again 

 breathe the air which is mixed with water. 



