NEWTS AND SALAMANDERS 



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of the frog, or into long strings, like those of the toad, but are laid 

 singly. 



Such being the case, we might think that they would be in 

 great danger of being devoured by fish or other water creatures. 

 But the clever newt guards against such a misadventure, by 

 twisting each egg carefully up into the narrow leaf of some water- 



Male and Female Newts 



plant. She doubles a leaf over, places the egg in the bend, 

 and finally, with one twist of her deft little paws, she fastens it 

 in its place, and quite conceals it from sight. 



When winter draws near, the newt leaves the pond, and seeks 

 for some underground refuge in which to live during the months 

 of frost and snow. Often it will bury itself in the loose earth at 

 the foot of a tree; and there it sleeps all through the winter, 

 requiring no food, and scarcely breathing. No sooner do the 

 warm days of spring come round, however, than it awakes from 

 its slumbers, and leaves its hiding-place, and soon it is back again 

 in its native ponds, hunting for worms and insects with which to 

 satisfy its hunger after its long fast. 



