British Amphibians : Newts 



of the crofter's garden are marshy bog-lands with the 

 myrtle's yellowing leaves, and warm spikes glistening 

 in the pale sunlight. Although the summer songsters 

 have vanished, the wintry visitors fill the vacated 

 places in the calendar of the year. Just when the 

 roadway looks dry and firm after a frosty night, small 

 parties of birds will be noted passing from lea to fallow 

 land. They go with a hurried rush of wings and a 

 sharp call-note. These are Greenfinches. One misses 

 the Linnet groups that were in evidence in days gone 

 by. These are only seen occasionally now. Fieldfares 

 are as of yore. Later on will come the Redwings ; it 

 must be harder frost before they arrive. The Field- 

 fares, often termed " hill-birds," go from the open fields 

 up to the fir-tops, and give out harsh croaks as they 

 fly. Birds that are ever present are the Rooks, Star- 

 lings, Robins, Thrushes. Doubtless these make tiny 

 migrations throughout the season, but they are always 

 represented in the shires. So, too, are the Lapwings 

 more or less. But during this cold, bleak season, the 

 Newts are snugly asleep. They hate cold, and it is 

 only when spring again warms the surface of the earth 

 that they venture from their hiding-places and renew 

 the tenor of their way. This instinctive aversion to 

 cold is accounted for by the fact that Newts and other 

 amphibians are animals commonly called <c cold- 

 blooded," or of variable body - temperature. Not 

 having any particular provision for the maintenance of 

 heat, such as occupy temperate regions are, compelled 



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