DWELLERS IN THE DUST 



TO many of us the differences between a rep- 

 tile and a batrachian are unknown. Even if 

 we have learned that these interesting creatures 

 are well worth studying and that they possess 

 few or none of the unpleasant characteristics 

 usually attributed to them, still we are apt to 

 speak of having seen a lizard in the water at the 

 pond's edge, or of having heard a reptile croak- 

 ing near the march. To avoid such mistakes, one 

 need only remember that reptiles are covered with 

 scales and that batrachians have smooth skins. 



Our walks will become more and more interest- 

 ing as we spread our interest over a wider field, 

 not confining our observations to birds and mam- 

 mals alone, but including members of the two 

 equally distinctive classes of animals mentioned 

 above. The batrachians, in the northeastern 

 part of our country, include the salamanders 

 and newts, the frogs and toads, while as reptiles 

 we number lizards, turtles, and snakes. 



Lizards are creatures of the tropics and only 

 two small species are found in our vicinity, and 

 these occur but rarely. Snakes, however, are more 

 abundant, and, besides the rare poisonous copper- 

 head and rattlesnake, careful search will reveal a 



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