No. 2. J THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEWT. 27 1 



The males considerably outnumber the females ; of 426 

 individuals taken from many different localities at different 

 times 280 were males. ^ The females are slightly larger and 

 in the breeding season considerably heavier than the males. 

 The five largest individuals measured were three females, 

 respectively 11.3 cm., 11 cm., 10.6 cm., in length, and two 

 males 10.5 cm. and 10.2 cm. The newts obtained from ponds 

 of some size are as a rule larger than those from smaller bodies 

 of water. 



Food, etc. — The newts in their natural habitat are car- 

 nivorous. They are exceedingly voracious, and when freshly 

 captured almost invariably have their stomachs distended with 

 partly digested prey. They feed chiefly upon insect larvae 

 and small mollusks which they swallow bodily. Among the 

 most common objects in the stomachs of the newts are the 

 mollusks, Bythinella, Valvata, Planorbis and Cyclas ; orthop- 

 teran and dipteran larvae ; small water-spiders ; encased Phry- 

 ganid larvae ; small Crustacea and the like. 



The females will take food eagerly all through the time of 

 egg-laying. In this respect they differ from NecUiriis and from 

 Amblystoma, since in the breeding season these larger urodeles 

 refuse to take food. The longer duration of the period of 

 oviposition in the newt as compared with many other am- 

 phibia may perhaps be correlated with this absence of the 

 fasting habit. 



In captivity, newts may thrive for several weeks without 

 being fed, although they are kept in best condition by feed- 

 ing about three times a week with earth-worms or v^'ith finely 

 chopped beef. They become very tame in confinement, and 

 exhibit a lively interest in the preparations for feeding them, 

 even jumping an inch or two out of water to catch a piece of 

 meat held over them by the forceps. They do not, however, 

 discriminate between the meat and the point of one's finger, 

 and will often leap into the air after the bare forceps. They 



1 In the breeding season both sexes, particularly the males, lose some of their 

 shyness and may be observed in their natural habitat without difficulty. Each 

 female is usually surrounded by several — sometimes as many as ten or tv^^elve — 

 suitors. 



