Amphibia 103 



Anguis fragilis, the Blindworm, or Slow- worm, is very 

 local and rare in this county. Jenyns "only in a few instances 

 noticed it about Bottisham." 



-AMPHIBIA. 



All the three British Newts occur in Cambridgeshire, and 

 during the pairing season all three may be found in the same 

 pools; for instance, between Chesterton and Milton, on grass- 

 lands where small pools have been dug for the cattle, down to 

 the permanent water-level, or on the higher ground, where the 

 impervious gault secures the presence of water. Not a few of 

 these little ponds are surrounded with trees by the roots of 

 which their over-hanging banks are prevented from tumbling 

 down, and here the water is teeming with insect life. In such 

 places Newts not only hibernate regularly, especially the 

 Crested Newt, but the young, although attaining to a con- 

 siderable size, partly retard their metamorphosis, in so far 

 as they retain portions of their external gills in the shape 

 of short, scarcely serviceable fringes, far into the autumn, 

 but by the next spring every trace of the clefts and gills 

 is lost. 



Triton vulgaris (s. taeniatus, s. punctatus), the Common, 

 or Spotted, or Smooth Newt is the most frequent, often 

 occurring in ditches, for instance, near Grantchester. Its 

 usual length does not surpass 3 inches, and it is easily dis- 

 tinguished by the yellow to orange undersurface, which is 

 always spotted with black. The nuptial dress of the male 

 shows a non-serrated, high and very wavy crest which extends 

 from the neck without interruption into the tail-fin which is 

 also wavy. 



Triton cristatus, the Crested or Warty Newt, when full 

 adult averages 5 to 6 inches. The skin is slightly tubercular, 

 and there is a strong gular fold. The underparts are pale 

 yellow, almost always with large, black spots. The breeding 

 male is very beautiful. A high, serrated or jagged crest on 



