1903 Newts in Spring 127 



the like. When for some reason or other, such as lateness 

 of hatching or insufficiency of suitable food, the young newt 

 fails to absorb its gills and produce lungs, it spends the 

 winter in the mud at the bottom of the water, which it will 

 not leave until late in the following spring. 



The old newts, having gradually lost their spring crests 

 and bright colours, desert the water about the beginning of 

 July to recommence a less exciting life upon land. During 

 their sojourn in the water they frequently shed their " skins," 

 which are often sloughed whole, and are eaten, as in the 

 case of toads, by their owners. A perfect slough of a newt 

 is an interesting object, and may, with care, be spread out 

 by means of a small brush upon a piece of white paper, 

 where it will look, when dry, like a delicate sketch in sepia. 

 Previous to their sloughing, newts, as in the case of toads 

 and snakes, become dull in appearance and sluggish in their 

 movements. 



The great crested newt (A/, cristata) is the largest of 

 British newts, and the palmate newt (M. palmata) is the 

 smallest ; while the common or smooth newt (M . vulgaris) 

 is the most plentiful. The palmate newt is found in various 

 localities, and is sometimes, as here in Devonshire, more 

 numerous than either of the other species. 



Newts, in common with some other animals, have the 

 strange power of reproducing lost limbs — at any rate during 

 that time which they spend in water. These Batrachians 

 while living in the water feed upon worms and other small 

 creatures, such as larvae of insects and the like ; but during 

 the earliest part of their tadpole life their food chiefly 

 consists of tiny fresh - water crustaceans, such as the 

 Daphnise, the Cyprides, and the Cyclops. Newts during 

 the breeding season are not seldom guilty of cannibalism — 

 the bigger ones feeding upon their smaller relatives. 



The eggs of newts may be easily obtained for the purpose 

 of observation by floating small bunches of certain aquatic 

 weeds, loosely tied together, in those waters in which these 

 Batrachians are known to abound. After about twenty-four 

 hours' immersion in the water the weeds on examination 

 will be found, in all probability, to contain several eggs, 

 and those portions to which the ova are attached may be 



