154 0UR REPTILES. 



summer they would enjoy the luxury of a bath. Not so, how- 

 ever. I never saw them voluntarily go into the water, and 

 when thrown in they always scrambled out as soon as possible. 

 The same thing occurs in keeping them in the aquarium ; they 

 always crawl out if they have the opportunity, seeming to 

 eschew the very element they are generally found in when 

 caught. These effets readily took food from the hand, particu- 

 larly if it was rubbed against their noses ; they seemed almost 

 too sluggish to take much trouble in the matter else. I gave 

 them small worms, gentles, ants' eggs ; they seized them with a 

 bite, and got them down with a series of gulps. But I hardly 

 ever fed them, perhaps not more than a dozen times altogether, 

 as my object was to combine business with pleasure ; the fern- 

 case, in common with most others I expect, being at times much 

 blighted with green fly. I first put in lizards, to try and keep 

 them down, but could not keep the lizards alive for any length 

 of time, owing, I think, to the dampness of the case not being 

 suitable to their constitutions, and their active habits making 

 them require more food than they could obtain. I then tried 

 small toads, and had the same luck with them as with the 

 lizards. My third venture, the newts, were a great success ; 

 they soon cleaied off all the green fly within reach, crawling to 

 nearly the top of the ponds for that purpose. I have never had 

 any trouble with the green fly since their introduction to the 

 case.* 



About the month of September, the smooth newts 

 seek a comfortable spot in which to pass their long 

 winter sleep. It may be under stones, bricks, or 

 pieces of timber, but is not often far beneath the 

 surface of the soil. On this occasion they may be 

 found, like the warty newt, in companies, closely 

 packed together : — 



* Science Gossip, vol. i., p. 39. 



