AMPHIBIANS. 99 



autumn and winter, and there is little then to distingiiish 

 the sexes — except, perhaps, in the case of the Great Newt, 

 for the orange of the lower part of the body of the male 

 does not extend to the tip of the tail as does that of the 

 female. 



The colouring of newts varies considerably, but the following 

 are the approximate markings of the different species : the 

 upper part of the body of the male of the Great Tfiton is 

 a dark brown, with here and there darker spots ; the sides 

 are spotted with white, and the sides of the tail are white; 

 the crest is almost black; the female of the Great Newt 

 (Fig. 81) is marked something similar to the male, the upper 



Fig. 81. Female Great Newt (Triton cristatus). 



part of the body being dark brown, the lower orange with 

 black spots; the sides are speckled with white. The Triton 

 cristatus is often more than Gin. in length, and its body is 

 covered with warty tubercles: these tubercles are supposed 

 to be for the purpose not only of defence, as they capable of 

 discharging bitter secretions, but also of supplying moisture 

 to the skin when the animal is out of the reach of water. 



The upper part of the body of the male of the Smooth 

 Newt {Triton punctatus) is greenish-brown; the sides are 

 bluish-white, speckled with black or dark brown spots; the 

 under-pai-t of the body is orange; the edges of the crest are 

 red ; the whole body is more or less covered with spots. The 



H 2 



