36 



trial form with its distinctive red coloration. This stage is 

 believed to continue " until the autumn of the third or 

 spring of the fourth year after hatching,"* when they as- 

 sume the adult form with its viridescent coloration, gener- 

 ally entering the water. The change may take place on 

 land, as I have frequently captured the adult at some dis- 

 tance from water, and' probably occurs at a given period 

 regardless of situation. 



From the fact that during five years I have overturned 

 hundreds of logs and stones in the woods in the vicinity of 

 New York, and searched after a rain, and have found only 

 one specimen of D. viridescens approaching in color to the 

 miniatus form, and from observations by others and in- 

 quiries as to the occurrence of the latter anywhere near the 

 coast, I am led to believe that in this locality, at least, the 

 transformation does not take place, but that the whole 

 period of the growth is aquatic. Specimens of all sizes 

 have been captured in the water, many of them quite red 

 and apparently half-grown. In Sullivan County and in 

 Southern Vermont, where there is apparently about the 

 same frequency of aquatic specimens, hundreds of the red 

 ones may be found in the woods under leaves or moss, 

 sometimes sunning themselves upon the upper surface of a 

 fallen log, and almost everywhere after a rain. The occur- 

 rence of hundreds of the adults in one pond near Mount 

 Vernon, without finding a single specimen of the miniatus 

 form during many years, must lead to the above opinion or 

 to the future discovery of their passing their terrestrial life 

 in situations entirely different from those now observed. 



Colonel Nicolas Pike and Professor Verrill speak of their 

 eggs as occurring in masses, the former stating that he 

 reared the young until about four months old. From his 

 description of their markings I am led to believe that they 

 were the larvae of one of the Amblystomas, although both 

 methods of laying eggs might exist, one as the habit of 

 prolific females, the other suggesting modification of habit 



* Ibid. 



