234 NECTURUS SIREN, OR MUD EEL. 



which have hidden themselves away, often three feet below the 

 surface in the Southern States. On examination, however, 

 they will be found to have legs, though small and feeble, with 

 only two toes on each foot. They are of a blackish-gray above, 

 and a lighter hue beneath. 



Another species of congo snake is found with three toes, 

 hence the name of three-toed congo snake is given to it. 



THE NECTURUS. 



Related to the curious eyeless proteus, found in the cele- 

 brated cavern of Adelsberg, is an animal very much larger, 

 called the necturus, inhabiting the waters of the Mississippi, 

 and several southern lakes. It is a creature nearly three feet 

 in length, with a thick body, and, being designed to live in 

 daylight, possesses eyes. It is between a fish and a reptile, 

 as it is furnished with large, well-tufted gills ; and, at the same 

 time, has four legs, and four toes on each foot, though it is 

 destitute of claws. 



It is of an olive-brown colour dotted with black, and a 

 black streak reaching from one end of the body to the termina- 

 tion of the somewhat thick, short tail. 



THE SIREN, OR MUD EEL. 



Another curious batrachian, the mud eel, is found in Caro- 

 lina, in marshy situations. Its total length is about three 

 feet. The head is small, as is the eye, while on each side of it 

 are three beautifully plumed gill-tufts. It has no hind-legs ; 

 while the front pair are very small, and do not aid it in moving 

 along the ground. This it does in the wriggling fashion of 

 an eel ; indeed, when discovered in the soft mud in which 

 it delights to live, the creature, at the first glance, would be 



