Salamanders and Newts Amphibians 
The following is the history of this species as sum- 
marized from Mrs. S. H. Gage’s charming ‘‘Story of 
Little Red Spot’’: The egg was laid in some fresh 
water pond on the still borders of some stream where 
there is a growth of water weed. The egg, which is 
about the size of a small pea, is fastened to a water 
plant. It is covered with a tough but translucent 
envelope, and has at the center a little yellowish 
globule. In a little less than a month the newt 
hatches, but it looks very different from the form with 
which we are most familiar. It has gray stripes upon 
its sides and three tiny bunches of red gills on each 
side, just back of its broad head. The tail is long and 
very thin, surrounded by a fin; it is an expert 
swimmer and breathes water as does a fish. After a 
time, it becomes greenish above and buff below, and 
by the middle of August it has developed legs and 
changed its form so that it is able to live upon land; 
it no longer has gills or fin; soon the coat changes to 
the bright orange hue which makes the little creature 
so conspicuous. 
The newt usually keeps hidden among moss, or 
under leaves, or in decaying wood, or other damp and 
shady places; but after a rain, when the whole world 
is damp, it feels confidence enough to go out in the 
open, and hunt for food. For two and a half years it 
lives upon land and then returns to the water. When 
this impulse comes upon it, it may be far from any 
stream; but it seems to know instinctively where to 
go. Soon after it enters the water, it is again trans- 
formed in color, becoming olive-green above and buff 
below, although it still retains the red spots along the 
back as mementoes of its land life; and it also retains 
its pepper-like dots. Its tail develops a fin which 
extends along its back and is somewhat ruffled. In 
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