13n HULLETIN P.I, rXlTED STATKS NATIONAL MFSEUM. 



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exhibits ii very line inoltliiiy ol" luowiiisli, scaicely ub.sciiriii<;' tlie t'lU-ct 

 of the ml jiTOund. The mottling i.s suiiR'tiiiios tMiiially ilistribiitcd— 

 sometimes concentniteil in some phices more than otliers. The sides of 

 tlie body are abruptly and continnously dark brown, but soon fades oil' 

 below into the pepper and salt of the lower sides and belly. There is 

 sometin)es the etfect of a broad dark stripe on each side the red, but 

 this is usually very illy delined below. 



The color of the red stripe varies considerably. Sometimes it has a 

 shade of pink— sometimes of orange or yellowish. The close resem- 



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Fk;. 30. riethoihiii eliiciriis cr/ilhronolKg, 4(<2c 



^ti 



St. CaUiariius. Canada; ;. 



blance in size and character with the l're(iuent association in the same 

 localities between the two species have given rise to the belief that tlu'y 

 were ditJereut sexes of the same species. That this supposition is in- 

 correct is i)roved by the fact that both males and females are found of 

 each kiiul, as was long ago noticed by llaldeman. As varieties they 

 are very permanent ones, as I have Ibund all the young of the same 

 brootl or set of eggs, whether in the eggs or Just escaped from them, 

 uniforndy with either dark backs or red ones. 1 have found adult red- 

 backed specimens watching eggs with red-backed endiryos, and biowii 

 backed in charge of brown-backed embryos. Tliere is also some dillci- 

 euce in geographical distribution. Thus, on the west side of Laki; 

 Champlain,in Essex County, New York', I'rol'essor Jiaird states that lu^ 

 lias found the red-backed salamaiuler very common, and never saw there 

 the r. cinercus. Among a very great numlterof specimens which I hav(^ 

 examined iu the collections of tlie Smithsonian Institution, the A(!ad- 

 emy of Natural Sciences, and Mssex Institute I have observed but four 

 specimens of the red-banded variety and four of the gray which could 

 be regarded as intermediate in cliaraiiter. This apjiears in a rufous 

 cast in the dorsal color of the latter and a slight obliteration of the 

 borders of the dorsal band in the former. Such coloration is, however, 

 very uuconimou in the living animal, which is everywhere exceedingly 

 abundant. The statement made by J. A. Allen that such are aliundant 

 in Massachusetts is not conlirmed by the siiecimens iu the museum of 

 the Essex Institute, ]\Iassaciiusetts. 

 An examination of 



types 



indra (ifiilis (.'5770) 



shows them to belong to this subspecies. His variety with livid back 

 is the ricthodoH cincreus cbiereus. 



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