AMPHIBIANS 



at home in a vivarium with a "pool" and a damp mossy floor 

 (p. 40) although the adults can get along almost anywhere so 

 long as they are given a little water and kept cool. They 

 eat fresh meat, showing little preference between pieces of 

 beefsteak and earthworm except when the worm wriggles. 



Size. — Length of adults 4 inches or less. 



Range. — Common, eastern United States and Canada. 



Mole Salamanders — Ambystomidce 



Spotted salamander, Ambystoma maculatum. — The eggs 

 of this and other species of Amhystoma are far more familiar 

 than the secretive, nocturnal animals which lay them. Spot- 

 ted salamanders have large, stout bodies, and broad, flat 

 heads. Their upper surfaces are shining black scattered over 

 with a few large, round yellow spots; underneath they are 

 slaty-gray, sprinkled with bluish-white flecking (PI. XIX). 



Habits, habitat. — ^Through most of the year the adults 

 skulk beneath logs and stones, in any dark, damp place in 

 pastures and light woodland; they have also been found in 

 lawns and gardens, even in cellars of houses. During the 

 nights of early March and April they come out of their hiding 

 places and migrate into ponds. The larvae live in spring- 

 fed ponds and streams. 



Breeding habits. — Adults congregate often in great num- 



FiG. 289. — Eggs and spermatophore of the 

 spotted salamander: i, small cluster of eggs attached 

 to leaf, showing coverings of jelly; 2, spermatophore. 



357 



