CRESTED NEWT. 175 



shelter under stones in the immediate neighbourhood of the 

 pond. 



The Crested Newt, Warty Newt or Great Newt, is our 

 largest species, attaining a maximum length of six inches, to 

 which the tail contributes two inches and a half. The skin in 

 this species is thrown into little warts, and on the upper parts 

 is dark grey or blackish-brown. Along the lower part of the 

 sides there is a liberal sprinkling of white dots, and the under- 

 side is coloured yellow or orange, boldly spotted or blotched 

 with black. There is a strong collar-like fold at the base of the 

 throat. The male's nuptial crest starts from the head as a low 

 frill, but between the shoulders and the thighs becomes high 

 with its edge deeply notched, the resulting " teeth "waving freely 

 in the water. Behind the thighs there is a gap, and then the 

 crest rises again as a tail fin, the lower edge of the tail having 

 a similar extension. Along the sides of the tail proper runs a 

 bluish-white, silvery-looking stripe. The eye has a golden 

 yellow iris. 



The female, who exceeds the male in size, is coloured similarly, 

 but the lower edge of her tail is yellow or orange. Above the 

 spine runs a depressed line, which is coloured yellow in the breed- 

 ing season, which begins in April. The newly hatched, semi- 

 transparent larvae are yellowish-green with two black stripes 

 along the back, which, later, when the ground colour changes to 

 a light olive, become broken up into spots, and the flanks and 

 underside become tinged with gold. They have a finer equip- 

 ment of branchial plumes than the Frog tadpoles, and their 

 form is more graceful and not " big headed." Some individuals 

 do not complete their development before winter, and remain in 

 the pond until the spring. They may be frozen in solid ice, but 

 they thaw out none the worse for their cold storage. Their 

 food consists of any small aquatic life such as insects, worms, 

 crustaceans, and weaker individuals of their own kind ; later, on 

 land they feed upon worms and insects. 



