316 AMPHIBIANS. 



serrated, along the back and tail. As in the frogs, the 

 skin is a supplemental breathing apparatus. 



The handsome Smooth Xewt is of green or brown hue, 



profusely spotted ; below, yellow, with black spots. The 



Common ^ower surface of the flattened tail is red in the 



or Smooth male, with bluish lines and markings ; in the 



®^^' female it is yellow, w^ithout markings. In the 



breeding season the male develops a festooned frill along 



the back, the female growing a smaller frill. This species 



seeks the neighbourhood of water in the warm months only, 



at which time too it sheds the sloui^h. 



o 



The Palmated Newt, smallest of the three, has dark 



spots on the body, and lines along the head, which is 



Palmated sj)eckled with black. The crest, which is not 



Newt. festooned as in the last, is black-edged. In 



the breeding season the male has the toes webbed, and 



grows a curious filament on the tail. 



Larger than either of the foregoing, the Great Water- 

 Newt is in colour black above, yellow beneath, with 

 Great black spots ; and the male has during the 



"Water- breeding season, in addition to his high ser- 

 ^®^*- rated crest, a light band on the tail. This 



newt seems to be more common in our southern counties 

 than in the north. Its distinguishing character lies in 

 the warts that stud the skin, and there are curious pores 

 along the head and body. Teeth are present in the palate 

 and jaws. The great water-newt lays its ova in the leaves 

 of water-plants, and the tadpoles hatch out in the course 

 of a month. All the newts feed much on frog-tadpoles. 



