The Great Newt. 511 



are carefully inclosed by the parents in the leaves of 

 aquatic plants. The young, when first hatched, are in 

 the form of tadpoles ; the legs afterwards sprout from 

 the sides of the body, but the tail is not cast off, as in 

 the frogs. The old Newts remain in the water until 

 July or August. 



THE GREAT NEWT. (Triton jpofcwfrw.) 



THIS, the largest British species of the Newt, is by no 

 means uncommon in our ponds and ditches. It is about 

 six inches in length; its back is dark, and its under 

 side is orange-coloured, sprinkled with small black 



rts ; altogether it is darker and richer in colour than 

 common species. During the breeding season the 

 males of both species, but especially those of the larger 

 one, are adorned with membranous crests, and their 

 colours become much more vivid. Their tenacity of 

 life is very great ; when mutilated, they will reproduce 

 the lost parts, and they may be frozen into a solid lump 

 of ice without losing their vitality. With regard to its 

 habits, this animal is a most voracious creature, and 

 devours unsparingly aquatic insects, and, in fact, any 

 small animal which happens to come in its way. For 

 tadpoles it seems to have a special predilection, and its 

 greediness is such that it has not escaped the charge of 

 cannibalism. These Newts have more than once been 

 taken in the act of devouring individuals of the smaller 

 species, but of such a size that there seems to have been 

 considerable difficulty in swallowing them. 



