200 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



summer months. The most amusing inhab- 

 itants of the pool and ditch at these times 

 are the bright-eyed reptiles— the frogs, the 

 toads, and the newts. Poor toady is a pretty 

 fellow in the water, with his bright, glisten- 

 ing eye and agile movements. The newts, 

 too, how smart and even beautiful they look 

 in their nuptial dress, and how well their 

 crimson-tipped crests accord with the quiet 

 green of the aquatic forest of plants. Then 

 on the surface of the pool we see the whirl- 

 igig, the gerris, and the boatman disporting 

 themselves ; and on the bottom the ever- 

 busy water beetles, and that insect in 

 armour, the caddis-worm, slowly dragging 

 its case along. Then there is the water- 

 spider with its air balloon, the undulating 

 leech, and the numerous examples of the 

 fresh water snails. All these simple but 

 interesting objects may be seen in aquariums 

 indoors, but we as outdoor observers prefer 

 nature's own aquarium, for there we have 

 all things natural, and get the fresh air 

 besides. 



The warty newt, according to our own 

 experience, is the most common of all the 

 newts, and may be found in nearly every 

 pond, quarry pool and ditch during the 

 spring and early summer. In damp cellars 

 it may likewise be found at most seasons of 

 the year. But the neighbourhood of water 

 is a certain place in which to find this great 

 black newt. In June of the present year I 

 was exploring the quarry referred to in my 

 previous paper (p. 125), and under a very 

 heavy stone lying by the side of one of the 

 pools I found ten or a dozen of these newts, 

 mostly full grown, and among them a small 

 specimen of the little smooth newt (L. punc- 

 tatusj. This is the "large black warty 

 lizard," which Gilbert White's "people" 

 used to draw up from the well sixty-three 

 feet deep. This species is found commonly 

 in England, Scotland, and Wales, and has 

 been reported from Ireland, but I believe 

 without much authority. 



Very early in spring we see the warty 

 newt in our ponds and ditches. The usual 

 time for its appearance is February or 

 March. There is a certain rushy, snipe- 

 haunted pool on a common, however, where 

 I have seen the warty newts moving lazily 

 about as early as January. This was in 

 that mild month of 1873, and the date was 

 the 17th. The specimens in question were 

 three in number, and were almost full- 

 grown, The weather too, seems to have 

 but little effect on these reptiles when once 

 they have made their appearance, as I have 

 a note in my diary for February 12th, 1874, 

 speaking of newts having been seen swing- 

 ing under the ice in a pond. In the sunny 

 days of spring, the warty newt is at the 

 height of its activity in our ponds and 

 ditches. Its movements in the water are 

 exceedingly graceful. It seems to prefer 

 weedy pools, with sandy bottoms, on which, 

 and in mid-water supported by the weeds, 

 it will often remain for a considerable time 

 motionless, and apparently gazing into 

 vacancy. When requiring air it rushes 

 bolt upright to the top of the water, takes 

 in a supply, and then descends to the bottom 

 as swiftly. When coming to the surface, or 

 going to the bottom, it presses its feet close 

 to its body, agitating the latter and its tail, 

 to get through the water, but when swim- 

 ming along it takes regular strokes. 



As the breeding season approaches, the 

 warty newt increases in beauty and grace- 

 fulness. Thus in April and May its back 

 becomes of a brownish-green hue, its belly 

 of a bright reddish-orange, and the sides of 

 the tail in the male of a pearly shining 

 white. The back of the male newt at the 

 time, is also ornamented with a notched 

 and jagged crest, tipped with crimson, which 

 when waving in graceful curves from side to 

 side, adds greatly to the beauty of its 

 possessor. The female, though without a 

 crest, is a graceful prettily spotted creature. 



During the spring and early summer 



