THE NEWTS. 177 



an interval, without any elevation ; it disappears during 

 the winter. 



The STRAIGHT-LIPPED WATER-NEWT (Triton Bibronii}, 

 is not often found. 



The COMMON SMOOTH NEWT, EFT, or EVET (Lissotriton 

 punctatus), Fig. 2, is the most common ; distinguishable by 

 its small size and smoothness, all warts and tubercles being 

 entirely absent. It is found in almost every ditch and 

 pond, and is often eaten by the first-described species and 

 by different kinds of fish. Its own food comprises aquatic 

 insects (especially in their larva state), small aquatic worms, 

 and water-snails. They will take flies that settle on the 

 surface of the water, and will also eat the tadpoles. 



The word eft or evet is probably derived from the 

 Anglo-Saxon ef-an, "smooth," from the smoothness of its 

 skin. The colour varies very much. The male is brownish- 

 grey in the upper-parts, yellow beneath, which in the 

 spring becomes a bright orange, marked with numbers of 

 round dark spots. The crest in the breeding season is 

 often tipped with bright red or violet. The female is of 

 a light yellow-brown, the under-parts quite plain. 



The PALMATED SMOOTH NEWT (Lissotriton palmipes) is 

 much larger than the previous species, and differs in the 

 form of the upper lip, which is pendulous at the sides, 

 and the spots which cover the body are more numerous 

 and smaller. The colour varies considerably. 



M 



