52 THE EEPORT OF THE No. 36 



district crops out, around a hollow some yards across and always containing water. 

 A projecting slab on the edge of the pool affords me a welcome place of rest. "When 

 I am seated upon it, my attention is naturally drawn to the creatures inhabiting 

 the limpid water at my feet. I have found them a numerous and interesting as- 

 sembly. 



One day, early in June, I noticed a number of Newts (specimens of Dieinyv- 

 tylus viridescens) , asprawl, and motionless on the bottom of the pool. Presently 

 a small ily, either by accident or design, touched the water: immediately one of 

 the newts, that had seemed so inert, rose to the surface and swallowed it. The 

 propelling guiding powers of the newt were in its tail. A few undulations of this, 

 and the creature ascended directly to its mark — its feet hanging motionless by its 

 sides. 



I much desired to examine the newt more closely; but how was I to secure 

 it without injuring it? I called to mind that when I was a boy in England, I 

 made a visit to friends in Surrey; and my young companions there took me to a 

 pond to shew me how to catch "effets" — those formidable, saw-backed creatures that 

 bear the name of Triton cristahis. 



Fig. 1 Dietnyctylus viridescenft. Natural size. 



My friends took with them a stick, a piece of string, and some worms. On 

 reaching the pond they fastened one end of the string to the stick, and tied a worm 

 by the middle to the other, and then dangled the bait before the eyes of a Triton. 

 The little reptile seized it with the greatest avidity; and, so tenacious was its lioln, 

 that it allowed itself to be lifted from the water, and landed on the bank, without 

 relaxing it. 



I tried this plan with my newt; but it was a failure — the creature would not 

 bite. It wriggled away. But a handsome Leopard Frog — cream-breasted, green- 

 coafed, and adorned with jet-black markings — which was sitting near with its 

 head out of water — could not resist the lure, but swallowed it incontinently. I 

 tightened the line to see if the frog would allow itself to be drawn from the water. 

 It sat, as Mark Twain's "Jumping Frog" sat, after the shot had been poured into 

 it; but it let the worm come from its maw with a slobbering gasp. 



It may have been imagination, but I thought that a look of astonished dis- 

 gust passed over the visage of the frog. 



While I was considering how to secure a specimen of the newt, a mosquito lit 

 upon my knee, and proceeded to present its little bill; but I brought a weighty 

 argument to bear upon it, and put it out of occupation. I pitched its remains 



I 



