NEWTS. 53 



the males of these two species of newts have the 

 dorsal crest fully developed. Like many other 

 animals, birds especially, the sexes are reduced to 

 a common likeness during the winter. When the 

 warmth of later spring begins to be felt, it is 

 astonishing how quickly the dorsal crest, and the 

 characteristic colours and the spots of the males, 

 are developed. In May and June these will be at 

 their height, for the females are then depositing their 

 ova, singly, in the folds of the leaves of the water 

 plants. The eggs are soon hatched, and, as is well- 

 known, the tadpoles are en- Fir I0 

 dowed with external gill- 

 tufts (Fig. 10). 



The great warty newt is 



the best for the fresh-water Tadpole of Newt (three months 

 aquarium, on account of its 



greater fondness for the water. It rarely leaves 

 it, except to bask on the leaves, or on some stone. 

 Hence it is as well to have a little rockwork projecting 

 above the surface of the water in which these newts 

 may be kept. During winter, it will lie torpidly at 

 the bottom of the tank ; but if the latter be always 

 kept in doors (as it ought to be), the period of 

 hybernation will be very brief. Perhaps the reason 

 why the crest is lost in winter is that it becomes 

 absorbed, in lieu of food, by the system, to maintain 

 the action of the involuntary organs. There is a 

 popular error that the tadpoles of frogs and toads 



