THE NEWTS 



455 



the female the orange tends to be less 

 intense. In both sexes the orange is 

 confined to the lower portions of the body 

 and tail, and is mottled with black mark- 

 ings. Along their sides is a scattering 

 of small white spots. In the male during 

 the breeding season the tail is banded 

 with a wash of sih'ery grey, and the 

 strongh' serrated crest is not continuous 

 from head to tail tip, as is the case with 

 the Smooth Newt, but shai-ply divided 

 where the tail joins the body. 



The Palmated Xewt. though of smaller 

 size and quieter colouring than the 

 Smooth Xewt. is. nevertheless, a singu- 

 larty handsome little amphibian. The 

 usual orange waistcoat is there, but his 

 beauty centres in the under-edging of 

 his tail, which, though sometimes merely 

 greyish, is more often tinged with an ex- 

 quisite shade of lilac. In the female, as 

 in the female Smooth Xewt, the under- 

 edging of the tail is yellow. The crest 

 of the male Palmated Xewt (it must be 

 remembered that these descriptions are 

 only applicable in the breeding season) 

 is not nearly so well developed as that of 

 the Smooth or of the Warty X^ewt, and 

 instead of being festooned or serrated, pre- 

 sents a clean, smooth outline. The name, 

 Palmated Xewt, has its origin in the fact 

 that the male's hind feet are well webbed 

 (not merely lobed) in the breeding season, 

 and another distinctive peculiarity of the 

 species, also confined to the same period, 

 is to be found in the termination of the 

 tail. In the male the finned portion of 

 the tail is rounded off abruptly, but the 

 tail itself projects in the form of a black 

 filament about a quarter of an inch in 

 length. Traces of a filament can also be 

 seen at the end of the female's tail, which, 

 instead of being rounded off at the e.x- 

 tremity, is triangular. The back of the 

 female shows, as can be seen in the 

 photograph on page 451, two keels run- 

 ning parallel to the crest. It is somewhat 



difficult for the novice to distinguish 

 between the female of this species and 

 the female of the Smooth Xewt. Mr. 

 Boulenger, however, has pointed out a 

 criterion by which both sexes may be 

 distinguished at all seasons of the year. 

 This is the entire absence of pigment on 

 the flesh-coloured throat. 



So far as distribution is concerned, the 

 Palmated Xewt was, until quite recently, 

 considered to be rare. The records of the 

 British Museum, however, show that this 

 view is hardly justified. So far as 

 England. Scotland, and Wales are con- 

 cerned (the Smooth Xewt is the only 

 one found in Ireland), the Palmated 

 Xewt has a wider distribution than either 

 of the other two species, and in many 

 localities he is the "common" newt. 



Like the Sand Lizard, the X'^ after jack, 

 and the Smooth Snake, the Palmated 

 Xewt is, in my experience, an inhabitant 

 of heath country. I have proved, how- 

 ever, to my own satisfaction that " heath " 

 is not essential to his well-being, by 

 loosing some specimens from the Bourne- 

 mouth district into the Darent Valley 

 (Kent) where the "common" newt is 

 the Smooth species. I released them 

 about eight years back, and they now 

 breed annually. I doubt if the reversed 

 experiment of releasing Smooth Xewts 

 into heath country would be equally pros- 

 perous. The Great Xewt seems to have 

 a preference for clay soil. The ponds 

 about brickfields are hkely places in 

 which to angle for him. His presence 

 can best be determined by watching for 

 the bubbles he makes when rising to 

 breathe, and he can be taken with almost 

 any bait, attached to a thread without 

 any hook, but hghtly shotted so that it 

 may be cast by hand. He must be 

 allowed to get a good grip of the bait, and 

 may then be gently towed ashore. The 

 two smaller species which frequent shal- 

 lower water can easily be netted. 



Douglas English. 



