AMPHIBIANS 



lower jaw straight as a rod and lifts the upper jaw away from 

 it. 



Habits, habitat. — The adults hide under stones near shallow 

 streams, and the larvas live in running water. Neither larvae 

 nor adults seem comfortable unless they are hidden beneath 

 something. In the swift shallows of certain streams one young 

 dusky will flash out from almost every stone which is up- 

 turned. 



Food. — Adults and larvae are carnivorous; their diet is 

 chiefly of insects, earthworms, and snails. 



Breeding habits. — They lay their 15 to 20 creamy white 

 eggs in moist cavities or beneath stones, very near the edge 

 of a stream. There are one or two clusters, closely guarded 

 by the female, which usually lies with nearly all of them 

 in contact with her body. They hatch in about eight weeks. 

 In western Massachusetts eggs have been found from mid- 

 June to September. 



Life history. — The larvae live on land until they are 15 to 

 16 days old and about three-quarters of an inch long. Then 

 they enter the water and remain there 8 to 9 months, trans- 

 forming to adults the following spring, when they go out on 

 land to breed. A female will continue to guard her eggs even 

 in captivity. 



Vivarium. — An adult dusky will burrow down, completely 

 hiding itself in the dirt unless stones are provided for it. Dr. 

 I. W. Wilder once found two adults entirely covered in the 

 dry earth of a terrarium where they had been living for two 

 years. 



Size. — Length of adult male 53^ inches; female smaller. 



Range. — Common. Canada to Mississippi, westward to 

 Illinois. 



Red salamander, Pseudotriton ruber. — This bright coral- 

 red salamander is locally common in and near streams in the 

 eastern states except New England. The older animals are 

 purplish brown but the young adults are coral-red with small, 



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