“I think we had better take our newts back to the pond now, Frank.”
“Oh, do let us keep them for a day or two longer, Uncle George. They are
getting quite tame.”
As he spoke, Frank drew his finger slowly round the outside of the glass
vessel that held the newts. One of the creatures swam round, following
his finger.
“Look, Uncle George! He knows me.”
“He is hungry, and thinks you ought to have a small worm in your
fingers.”
“_Thinks?_ Uncle George. Can newts _think_?”
“It looks as if they could, does it not? We feed these creatures every
day, and they have got into the habit of looking for food every time we
come near them. But here comes Tom with the worms.”
It was curious to watch how the newt acted when a tiny worm was given
it. At first it seemed not to see the worm, although it was wriggling at
his nose. It crept back slowly about two or three inches, then all at
once it sprang upon the worm and gobbled it up.
“You must tell us all about the newt, Uncle George,” said Tom.
“I should like to know how much you two boys have found out by feeding
and watching these two,” said Uncle George. “So just tell me what _you_
know about the newt first, then perhaps I can tell you some things about
newts, frogs, and toads which you do not know.”
“Well,” began Tom, “the newt lives in water. He has four feet, with
pretty little toes upon them, and a long tail. He feeds upon worms,
tadpoles, and other small animals, and he swallows them whole, because
he has no teeth.
[Illustration: Crested Newt, Male and Female.]
“The male has a huge crest, and is gay with bright colours.
“The female has no crest. She lays her eggs upon the pond weeds. A
single egg is laid upon a leaf. The leaf is then rolled round it, so as
to hide it from enemies.”
“Very good, Tom,” said his uncle; “but you have not told us about the
newt’s skin.”
“Oh, I forgot that,” Tom went on. “The newt has a lovely silky skin,
which it only wears for about a week, then it casts it off. Now, tell us
something more about them, Uncle George.”
“The newt does not live in the water all the year,” said Uncle George.
“During autumn and winter great families of newts sleep together under
stones and in dry holes in the earth. They only go to the pond in early
spring to lay their eggs.”
“Do newts ever become frogs or toads?” asked Frank.
“Oh no, Frank, never. I know what makes you think that. It is because
the young frog, just before he loses his tail, is very like a little
newt.
“Young newts are tadpoles too, but they differ very much from frog
tadpoles. Newt tadpoles live in the pond for more than a year. They have
feathery outside gills on all that time. Their _fore_ feet are formed
first. If you remember, our frog tadpoles got their hind legs first.
“Long ago people believed all sorts of absurd things about the poor,
harmless newt. They were afraid to touch it. Every newt found was killed
at once, for it was thought to have a sting and poison bag. Even at the
present day many people believe that newts and toads are dangerous
animals.”
“How can you tell a toad from a frog, Uncle George,” Tom asked.
“They are very different from each other, both in shape and in their
ways of living. The toad is a fat, clumsy animal. His skin is dull and
warty. He does not hop, but crawls or walks lazily along.
“He lives upon flying insects, which he catches with his curious long
tongue. He gets very fat during summer and autumn.
“Before winter comes on, he looks out a snug hole under a root or stone.
Here he sleeps the whole winter through.
“In spring he wakes up, lean and hungry, and betakes himself to the
pond.
“The eggs of the toad are laid in the water in long strings, each like a
double row of beads. They hang gracefully upon the water weeds, and look
very pretty.
“The toad tadpoles are very like those of the frog. They go through the
same changes.
“The toad also casts his skin, but he does not throw it away like the
newt. He takes his old, cast-off skin, rolls it up into a neat little
ball, and _swallows it_.
“The frog’s body is more slender. His skin is slippery. It is not dull
and dingy like that of the toad. It is of a bright greenish yellow
colour, marked with black spots of different sizes.
[Illustration: 1. Frog. 2. Toad. 3. Frog catching a Fly with its tongue.]
“The frog can change his colour from light to dark. He has long hind
legs which enable him to hop very high on land and to swim very fast in
the pool.
“He likes the long, damp grass, where he catches flies, beetles, and
slugs.
“He sleeps through the winter, buried in the mud at the bottom of the
still pool.
“Like the toad, the frog catches his prey by means of a long, sticky
tongue, which darts out of his mouth whenever an unlucky insect comes
within reach.
“His tongue is fixed to the floor of his mouth just at his lower lip. It
is forked at the end. When not in use, it lies folded back inside his
mouth and points down his throat.”
Exercises on Lesson X.
1. Where are frogs, newts, and toads in winter-time?
2. How could you tell a toad from a frog?
3. What is the difference between young newts (tadpoles) and young
frogs (tadpoles)?
4. Write the life of a frog (or of a toad) as if told by the creature
itself.