SIGNS OF SPRING 35 



and their low, purring croak (almost resembling 

 the noise made by a train of bubbles escaping 

 from mud) is generally heard only at evening 

 from a ditch or pool. A fit companion for these 

 creatures is the newt, a lizard-like amphibian, 



A BRITISH NEWT. 



with a moist skin and no claws; a feeble thing, 

 and yet one able to climb a smooth, inclined surface, 

 such as that of glass or china, where a lizard 

 could not rise from the ground. Superstition yet 

 alleges that the newt is poisonous ; and, indeed 



