BRITISH REPTILES 117 
walking about, I moved him out on to the common. 
The next evening he was inside the garden plot as 
usual. Once more I carried him away, and this time 
to a much longer distance. He found his way back 
again, however, and after that he remained with us as 
long as he pleased. If toads make up their minds that 
they like a place, they will stop there, unless you kill 
them, and I certainly could not do that. In most 
gardens now, you will see toads in the melon and 
cucumber pits, and in the houses where grapes are 
grown, for one of the gardener's best friends is our 
common toad. 
The natterjack toad, Bufo calamtta, may be dis- 
tinguished from the common toad by a bright buff 
line down the middle of its back. It is more active 
in its movements than its far more common relative, 
also more local in its distribution. In other respects 
it resembles its common representative. 
The newts, or, as they are called in the country, 
efts, and far more frequently effuts, will close the list 
of our British reptiles. The great water-newt, Triton 
cristatus, is, as its title implies, the largest member of 
this family, and the handsomest. Its length is from 
six to seven and sometimes eight inches. In the 
breeding season the male is dark yellow-brown in 
colour, with dark roundish spots ; the under parts are 
