. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . on land, often thenfinding their way into drains and cellars. They are carnivorous,feeding upon different insects and on the spawn of frogs, not evensparing individuals of their own species. The females deposit theireggs singly, fixing them on the under surface of the leaves ofaquatic plants. Some Newts, says Professor Owen, deposit theifeggs upon aquatic plants, such as Polygo7iu77i persicaria, folding the A^^ WTS 31 leaf by means of the hind feet in such a
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of their various orders, with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . on land, often thenfinding their way into drains and cellars. They are carnivorous,feeding upon different insects and on the spawn of frogs, not evensparing individuals of their own species. The females deposit theireggs singly, fixing them on the under surface of the leaves ofaquatic plants. Some Newts, says Professor Owen, deposit theifeggs upon aquatic plants, such as Polygo7iu77i persicaria, folding the A^^ WTS 31 leaf by means of the hind feet in such a ^vay that its iinder-surface isturned inwards and the fold made to stick by the adhesive coatingof the egg, which she inserts in the fold. The young are hatchedfifteen days after. These animals give utterance to a very peculiarnoise, and when touched emit a disagreeable odour. It has been ascertained that Newts can live for a long time, notonly in very cold water, but even in the midst of ice, being some-times taken in blocks of ice which are formed in the ditches andponds which they inhabit. When the ice-flakes melt they seem to. Fig. 10.— Newts, or Aquatic Salamanders. awaken from their torpor, and betake themselves to their accus-tomed movements uninjured from their previous loss of liberty,LacepMe states that he found Aquatic Salamanders during summeiin pieces of ice obtained from the ice-dealers, where they hadremained without movement or nourishment from the time in whichthey had been enclosed. Newts present another remarkable feature in the facility withwhich Nature repairs any mutilations they may have undergone. Notonly do their tails grow again when broken off, but even their feetare reproduced in the same manner; and the process may be manytimes repeated. 32 REPTILES AND BIRDS. The Crested Newt {Triton cristatus) is frequently found in theneighbourhood of Paris ; the skin of its back is rough and warty,of a brownish colour, with large black spots and white projecti
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles, bookyear1
