The Great Newt. 511 
are carefully inclosed by the parents in the leaves of 
aquatic plants. The young, when first hatched, are in 
the form of tadpoles ; the legs afterwards sprout from 
the sides of the body, but the tail is not cast off, as in 
the frogs. The old Newts remain in the water until 
July or August. 
THE GKEAT NEWT. {Triton palustris.) 
This, the largest British species of the Newt, is by no 
means uncommon in our ponds and ditches. It is about 
six inches in length; its back is dark, and its under 
side is orange-coloured, sprinkled with small black 
spots ; altogether it is darker and richer in colour than 
the common species. During the breeding season the 
males of both species, but especially those of the larger 
one, are adorned with membranous crests, and their 
colours become much more vivid. Their tenacity of 
life is very great ; when mutilated, they will reproduce 
the lost parts, and they may be frozen into a solid lump 
of ice without losing their vitality. With regard to its 
habits, this animal is a most voracious creature, and 
devours unsparingly aquatic insects, and, in fact, any 
small animal which happens to come in its way. For 
tadpoles it seems to have a special predilection, and its 
greediness is such that it has not escaped the charge of 
cannibalism. These Newts have more than once been 
taken in the act of devouring individuals of the smaller 
species, but of such a size that there seems to have been 
considerable difficulty in swallowing them. 
