1 7 o OTHER DEXIZENS OF THE WOODS 



of the Mediterranean islands, as well as in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, 

 Italy, Sicily, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria. Its domain 

 is, therefore, somewhat limited, and it is absent, with few exceptions, from the low- 

 lying plains of the far north and east of European the Asiatic extensions of which, 

 namely in western Transcaucasia, it is represented by a smaller species with a 

 longer tail. The most northerly points of its habitat are Oldenburg, near Bremen, 

 Luneburg, and Lauenburg, whence its northern limit rapidly deflects to the 

 Xeisse near Gorlitz, and towards the western boundary of the Oder valley in 

 central Silesia, and farther on to the forest-region of the Tatra and Carpathian 

 Mountains. The eastern boundary, speaking generally, is formed in north-west 

 Germany by the Elbe, farther south and east by the Oder, and in Galicia ami 

 Siebenburgen by the upper reaches of the Dniester and the Pruth. Farther south 

 the species has not yet been definitely recognised. In west and north Germany 



STOTTED SALAMANDER. 



the spotted salamander is unknown, as also in the British Isles, the greater 

 part of Holland, the Belgian plains, and Scandinavia. 



Salamanders require shade and moisture, and thus dwell in wooded valleys, 

 bushy ravines and overgrown slopes, in hill and upland where shelter is found 

 against sunshine and drought, beneath roots and stones, on mossy banks and 

 ferny patches, in holes and caves, and old tree-trunks. They range up the 

 lower mountains to a height of from 2000 to 3000 feet, while in the 

 Swiss and Tyrolese Alps they reach as high as 7000 feet. In the evening 

 and at night — in the daytime only after a warm shower — they issue 

 from their hiding-places to seek their prey, which consists of worms, 

 grubs, slugs, wood-lice, and other creeping animals, and occasionally also of 

 spiders and various insects. If they find enough food in their hiding-places, 

 they sometimes do not show themselves at all for long periods. In holes 

 and similar places of refuge they hibernate in company, reappearing at the 

 end of March or commencement of April. At that time, although often not 



