THE 8IREN8. 
179 
Orders of Batrachia. 
1. Body long, eel-like, with gills, no hind 
legs 
2. Body flat, with gills, four legs 
3. No gills in adult life 
4. Body snake-like; no feet, no tail 
5. Tailless, with four legs, long toes; 
l^rachystomata (Siren). 
Froteida (Mud-puppy). 
Urodela (Salamanders). 
OymnopMona (Blind Snake). 
great leapers ; young tailed 
Anura (Toads, Frogs). 
Order 1. Trachystomata (Sirens). — These singiihir crea- 
tures are eel-like in their form and movements, with gills 
on the sides of the head. They have no hind legs, and the 
small weak fore-legs are three- or four-toed. The great 
siren, Siren lacertina, is two or three feet in length, and 
is four- toed. It lives in swamps and bayous in the South- 
ern States, especially rice lands. It lives in the mud, going 
on land or swimming in the water. Its food is supposed 
to be earth-worms, insects, etc. A smaller siren, 9 inches 
in length with three toes and small gills, is the Pseiido- 
Iranchus striatus. It is found in Geoi-gia. 
Order 2. Froteida (Proteus; Necturus, mud-puppy). — 
These Amphibians are flat-bodied, with bushy thick gills, 
of a beautiful deep red beneath, with gill-openings, while 
the jaws are armed with small conical teeth. 
The Proteus of Austrian caves is blind; it has three toes 
in the fore-feet and two in the hinder pair. Our American 
Protean is four-toed on all the feet. The mud-puppy or 
Menobranchus {Necturus lateralis) is a large, broad, flat- 
bodied, fish-like creature. It is brown, mottled with darker 
spots; it has small eyes, and is from 8 inches to 2 feet in 
length. It inhabits the Mississippi Valley, and is common 
in the lakes of Central New York, where it is caught with 
the hook and line. It is easily kept in confinement, eating 
bits of meat. 
Order 3. Urodela (Salamanders, Newts). — These tailed 
Amphibians rarely have gills when mature, these organs 
iij^4;hem being larval or transitory. The body is still long 
