BRITISH REPTILES 119 
down in front of these. They at once fixed on to it 
like a bull-dog, and so were jerked out on the grass. 
As I stooped down to pick the first one up, a very 
fine one, alarmed shouts proceeded from the pair of 
shavelings. 
' Doan't touch un, fur marcy sake, afore we settle 
un fur 'ee ; whativer they bites swells till it busts.' 
It was not the least use reasoning, it was only time 
wasted ; not even the sixpence given them quieted 
their fears on my behalf. ' Sumthin' wud cum on it, 
sum time or other,' they said. 
The children reasoned, although not correctly, 
from inferences drawn from their own observations 
made in the forest. ' Now look here, Mister, afore 
you gits pisined. They must be rank pisin, fur their 
bellies is 'zactly the same colour as them 'ere mush- 
eroon things what grows under the fir trees, an' 
they'll settle ye.' 
The newt we have described leaves the water and 
hides on land, as well as under the mud of the ponds 
it frequents. After the breeding season is over it is a 
very different creature. Its crest is gone, and all its 
bright colours have faded to dingy shades, so that it 
does not look like the same reptile. The common 
smooth newt, Lissotriton punctatus, is to be found 
almost everywhere, if the water is clear. It is preyed 
