slender body tapers gently to the end of a heavy tail. The legs and 

 toes are slender and long. The color is variable. It may be dark 

 brown above and paler along the sides, or it may be greenish gray 

 above and bluish along the sides. Along the upper sides and tail 

 are small yellow spots, those on the trunk being in about the same 

 position as the spots of the adult. Beneath, the throat is white, the 

 belly grayish and iridescent. The tail fin starts opposite the in- 

 sertion of the forelegs. 



Eggs of the Spotted Salamander 



At the time of leaving the water the yellow markings may be 

 greatly intensified, the toes are shortened, and the gills and tail fin 

 are lost. 



Size. The adult size, about 170 mm., is intermediate between 

 that of Jefferson's Salamander and the Tiger Salamander. 



Habitat. This species usually spends the summer and fall per- 

 iods of its adult life hidden beneath logs, in tree stumps, and be- 

 neath the loam of upland stands of hardwood. It comes out to feed 

 only at night. In the late fall and early winter it seems to wander 



[52] 



