224 FAUNA OF SHROPSHIRE. 



June, and then diminishes rapidly till, by the time the 

 Newts leave the water, it has disappeared entirely, and 

 there is scarcely any visible difference between the sexes 

 except in size the female is the larger, and has no crest 

 at any season. Even when living on land the skin of 

 Newts feels soft and moist to the touch, like that of 

 Frogs, and they are equally incapable of enduring pro- 

 longed drought. They became torpid in winter, and 

 spend it rolled up, several together in a mass, in holes 

 in the ground. The average length of the adult Great 

 Warty Newt is nearly 6 inches. Colour : blackish above ; 

 orange with black spots beneath. The feet are not 

 webbed, and the toes number four on the fore-legs, five 

 (sometimes six), on the hind-legs. The tadpoles, as well 

 as the adult, cast the skin occasionally, and the latter 

 generally make a meal of it. 



COMMON or SMOOTH NEWT. Provincial name, Askel. 



M. vulgaris. Considerably smaller than the last and 



easily distinguished by the smooth skin, 

 devoid of warts or pimples. This species is altogether a 

 prettier animal, and the colouring in the breeding season 

 is really beautiful, especially in the male. At this time 

 he is also ornamented with a crest on the back and tail, 

 festooned along the edge ; the female has no crest, and 

 the male loses his before he leaves the water to resume 

 his terrestrial life. The upper parts are generally 

 greenish-brown ; the lower, orange, and there are numer- 

 ous irregular black spots on the body and tail. Some 

 specimens, at their brightest, show beautiful shades of 

 blue and gold on the sides. In the female the colours 

 and spots are more obscure and the under-parts often 

 quite plain. Amongst country folk the belief in the poison- 



