52 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOKBST. 



ing a vicious nip at one's fingers, but tliey never 

 squeaked. 



Now this evidence, such, as it is, proves hut one 

 thing : that a certain lizard and a salamander or two 

 do have voices ; but these, it seems, are rarely heard. 

 We have no testimony regarding the voice of 8pe- 

 lerpes rubra except that given by Burroughs. The 

 very fact that he mentions the strange voices as com- 

 monly occurring in the woods from May until No- 

 vember, suggests the possibility that he may have 

 heard the Ilylce, who do sing scatteringly in the woods 

 during this season. Moreover, the fact remains that 

 Spelerpes rubra is distinctively aquatic. He has no 

 business to be plaintively " peeping " on trees or on 

 the ground, especially when it is not a rainy day. 

 Indeed, if we should care to look for a red salaman- 

 der on a fine day we would better go to the spring or 

 brook at once. He is, as I have intimated, an at- 

 tractive little creature whose quiet habits are worth 

 study. In appearance he is far from positive red. 

 His color is rather a translucent dull orange red, and 

 sometimes he matches a brick quite perfectly. Along 

 his back are blackish specks which are more or less 

 conspicuous in different individuals. In immature 

 specimens these are not distinct, and in some they are 

 scarcely perceptible. 



The red salamander is generally found beneath a 



