Part 12

Exercises on Lesson IX.

1. What are tadpoles? 2. How old is the frog before his hind legs appear? 3. A tadpole seems to be all head and tail. Can you explain this? 4. How do tadpoles breathe—(1) when they are first hatched? (2) when they are four weeks old? (3) when they are eleven weeks old?

X.—FROGS, TOADS, AND NEWTS.

“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.

“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.