THE SIREN. 



195 



The general colour of this creature is olive-brown above, dotted with black, and with a 

 black streak from the nostril through the eye, and along each side to the tail. Below it is 

 blackish brown with olive spots. 



OUE last example of the Batrachians is the curious SIEEN, or MUD-EEL, as it is 

 sometimes called, on account of its elongated eel-like form and its mud-loving habits. 



It is a native of several parts of America, and is found most plentifully in Carolina, 

 where it haunts the low-lying and marshy situations. The rice-grounds seem to be its 

 most favoured localities, the muddy soil being the substance best adapted for its means of 



. ,\ 



SIREN. Wren lacertina. 



progression. Its food seems to consist almost entirely of worms and various insects, of 

 which it will consume a considerable quantity every day. A fine specimen that lived for 

 some time in the Zoological Gardens used to feed upon earthworms, of which it would 

 devour about eighteen or twenty every two days. This individual passed the greater part 

 of its time beneath the thick stratum of soft mud with which the bed of the basin was 

 profusely covered. This was a very long specimen, and by an uninitiated observer would 

 probably have been taken for an eel. 



The head of the Siren is small in proportion to the size of the animal, the eye is very 

 small, and the gill tufts are three in number on each side, and beautifully plumed. It has 

 3nly one pair of legs, the hinder set being wanting, and the front pair are extremely 

 small, and of no practical use in progression. It has only three toes on each foot. The 

 lolom is dark blackish brown, and the length of a fine specimen is about three feet. 



