LIFE HISTORY OF DESMOGNATHUS FUSCA. 26l 



punctatum (Wright and Allen, '09), 108 for Diemyc tylus viridescens 

 (Jordan, '91), and 150 for Amphiuma means (Hay, '88 and '90), 

 shows a striking correlation with the far greater certainty of 

 fertilization which is insured by the direct deposit of the sper- 

 matophore in the cloaca of the female; the small number of eggs 

 is also undoubtedly correlated with the superior chances for 

 successful development afforded by the large size of the egg 

 (about 3.5 mm. in diameter), and the maternal care during 

 development. 



The eggs are laid in a little moist hollow or cavity, often of 

 accidental occurrence, in just such places, in fact, as those in 

 which the adult Desmognatlius is usually found. I have observed 

 that the female in captivity will sometimes excavate in the soft 

 earth underneath a stone or clump of moss a cavity sufficiently 

 large to accommodate her body in a coiled position, and in this 

 cavity will deposit her eggs. In nature I have found eggs under 

 a mere covering of moss or a little decaying stick. Hilton ('09) 

 reports that they are found also at a depth of as much as four 

 feet below the surface. They seem never to be deposited more 

 than two or three feet from the edge of the water, or more than 

 a few inches above its level in the neighboring brook, into which 

 the newly hatched larvae are destined to find their way. 



So far as my own observations and those reported by others 

 go, the eggs are laid during the night or in the early morning, 

 as would indeed be expected from the nocturnal habits of the 

 species. No cases have been reported of the prolongation of the 

 process of egg laying beyond the single night during which, 

 apparently, all the eggs produced by a given female for one 

 season are deposited. 



The eggs are always found guarded by a female, undoubtedly 

 the mother. She usually so places herself among them as to 

 bring practically all of the eggs in contact with her body, which 

 often extends through the mass of eggs and is frequently bent 

 sharply upon itself as if the better to surround and protect them. 

 When under observation, as in a terrarium, the mother frequently 

 leaves the eggs when disturbed, always retreating through the 

 same exit from the nest. After having been separated from the 

 eggs, however, as may occur in making a transfer from out of 



