COMMON FROGS AND SALAMANDERS 



303 



Mud Puppy, or Water Dog, N^ecttirits inaculattis. Lengtli, ten 

 inches to two feet ; color, dusky brown, more or less mottled. 

 Breeding season, early spring (?). Necturus has the reputation 

 of following fishes to their spawning grounds in order to eat the 

 eggs and young. 



We have noted but five of the fifty salamanders, but 

 this will be sufficient for a beginning. In trying to keep 

 them in confinement we must remember that some are 

 aquatic, some terrestrial, and some both ; and we must be 

 careful to note the haunts of any common species we wish 

 to study and render our vivarium as much like its normal 

 environment as possible. I must repeat that the above 

 forms are not described in order that they should be 

 *' learned," but solely to help toward an acquaintance 

 with these and similar forms, to the end that intelligent 

 sympathy may take the place of ignorant fear. 



