THE NEWTS. yj 



The tail is eloquent in the newt as in most other creatures, 

 occasionally flapping rapidly, and in fear or anger curling laterally. 

 I could always estimate the degree of fear or of anger in my newts 

 by the curving of their tail. When suddenly disturbed it was 

 curled up almost tightly, and close to the body. At other times 

 it was slightly curved, and so on. It is, to a certain extent, pre- 

 hensile also; and when the newt is taken out of the water the 

 tail is clasped round the finger as a safeguard to the owner on 

 finding itself in an unusual and perhaps dangerous position. 



The warty newts displayed the same climbing tendencies as 

 the smooth newts, somehow managing to get out of the glass 

 globe even when only half fall of water, until I covered it with 

 a perforated zinc lid. Some got away entirely, which was more 

 practicable to them than to the toad, as the slight space under 

 the door would easily admit their slender body ; or, climbing 

 easily, they might have got through the chink in the wall. Fre- 

 quently they buried themselves in the mould, and I would turn 

 them up after many days, when quite given up for lost ; or I might 

 discover one calmly exploring on the floor of the conservatory. 

 While accrediting them with graceful movements, truth compels 

 one to limit these to the water, or when reposing ; their slow, 

 wriggling motion on terra firma being anything but graceful. 

 Their very feeble limbs are not adapted for fleetness of motion 

 on land. 



MOLGE VULGARIS. 



These little newts are more common than the warty newt, 

 and are found in almost every pond, some in my possession 

 coming from near London. They are very much smaller 

 than cristata, much lighter and more variable in colour. Grey- 

 ish, sandy, very light brown, or pale olive individuals may 

 be seen, with darker spots ; and pale orange, with black spots 

 beneath ; but, as in the other species, the female is the less brightly 

 coloured, and both are in their brightest in spring. While the 

 specific cristata has been assigned to the warty newt, the commoner 

 kind is really best entitled to the distinction, its crest in spring 

 being very high and conspicuous, festooned, and continuous from 

 the head to the tip of the tail, which, like the other, is laterally 

 compressed. The lower one to the right, swimming upwards, in 

 the frontispiece, represents the little eft natural size. The female 

 has also a crest, but low and straight-edged, not conspicuous, as in 

 the male. The handsome crests of my suburban newts disap- 

 peared with singular rapidity, whether from captivity, or the loss of 

 their mates, I cannot say. Some male specimens brought me 



