138 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



INSECTIVORA. 



All the British species are common throughout the Moray 

 Firth Basin ; in fact, all the British varieties that I know of 

 occur here. The HEDGEHOG (Erinaceus europceus) is plenti- 

 ful in many districts. MOLES (Talpa europcea] abound : 

 brown, gray, yellowish, and whitish ones are caught from 

 time to time. 



The COMMON SHREW (Sorex vulgaris] in Elginshire 

 appears to be generally much darker in colour in early 

 spring than in summer. In July I have caught light- 

 coloured specimens nearly the colour of the withered grass 

 on the hillocks where I found them. Had such examples 

 been caught in Lewis or Shetland, they might have been 

 made into a new sub-species. I do not think they 

 represented a " variety " ; they had only a faded or sunburned 

 coat during a dry summer. The LESSER SHREW (Sorex 

 minutus] is much more common than is generally supposed. 

 It lives, mostly, in woods and bogs, therefore is seldom seen 

 on the road like the Common Shrew. It is so light in 

 weight that it seldom springs the traps, and may thus often 

 escape capture. I cannot say if this species varies much 

 in colour, as I have not seen more than thirty specimens during 

 the past seven years. The WATER SHREW (Crossopns 

 fodiens), though not very abundant, is found through our 

 area. It varies greatly in colour, being sometimes nearly 

 white below and sometimes black. I find the teeth also 

 vary in tint. 



CARNIVORA. 



The WILD CAT (Felis catus}. Does such a "species" 

 exist in Scotland ? An authority once told me that he did 

 not believe that any true examples of Felis catus were now 

 to be found in Britain. 



Mr. Lydekker, in his book on " British Mammals," gives 

 a picture of a Wild Cat's skull. I think no mammalogist in 

 Britain can distinguish British Wild Cats' skulls from those 

 of some varieties of the domestic race. The Rev. L. Shaw 

 (historian of Moray) observed, about 150 years ago, that 

 there were no Wild Cats in " Moray " except the descendants 

 of cats that had escaped from domestication. The same 



