26 FAUNA AMERICANA. 



Sorex cunicularis^ Brechstein, Zool. Musaraigne 

 plaro?i, Vic. d'Azyr, Syst. Anat. des anim. tab. 

 method. (Encycl. pi. supple. 4. fig. 6.) 



Char. Essent. Ears very small, liairy, entirely 

 concealed by the skin ; colour cinereous-black ; 

 tail flattened at its base, and at its point, round in 

 the middle. 



Dimensions. Total length, two inches seven 

 lines ; length of the tail one inch six lines. 



Description. Snout more robust than that of 

 the Sorex ara?ieus; head broader; fascial line 

 more arched ; cartilage at the end of the nose, 

 shorter and thicker, which is owing to the coarse 

 hairs which garnisli the nostrils ; ears entirely con- 

 cealed by the hairs ; two small canines more than 

 in the other species in the upper jaw ; tail flat, 

 slender, and as if strangulated at its origin, whilst 

 the remainder, particularly the middle, is thick, 

 as if swollen, and round, except at the extremity, 

 where it is flattened, and where the hairs unite 

 into a point like those of a pencil ; fur thick, long, 

 and very soft to the touch, blackish for the great- 

 er portion of its length, and red at the extremity ; 

 belly grayish-brown ; throat cinereous ; feet hairy. 



Habit. Frequents meadows near the water. 



Inhabit Europe and the United States. The 

 specimen in the Pliiladelphia Museum, No. 895, 

 was taken near Philadelpliia. 



