1122 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



after 3 days in the capture of 8 Blarinas. At another place 

 they were even more plentiful, as I counted 17 holes in a 

 space 8 by 10 feet. In this woods there were certainly 50 

 Blarinas to the acre. 



sociA- Like the rest of the group, this animal is neither sociable 



UILITY 



nor gregarious. 



TUNNELS The tunnel inhabited by a pair of these animals in 



October, 1908, is shown in Fig. 257. I found no nest. When 



1 reached the place near the lowest stone on the diagram, 

 and noticed first the plugging of the gallery, second the plunge 

 hole, I thought that the nest was close at hand, as these 

 are the usual indications. But the plunge ended on a 

 hard rock. 



This gallery was everywhere i to 2 inches down, and i J to 



2 inches wide. 



NfESTs There is evidence that the species not only makes a warm 



nest for its young, under a log or stump below ground, but also 

 keeps up a soft and comfortable home for itself the year round. 

 A. F. Shull, whose studies have shed so much light on this Shrew, 

 says- that the Blarina nest differs from that of a Microtus — 

 thus, the former uses the nesting material as it finds it, the 

 latter tears and shreds it up into fine lint. 



BREED- The mating habits of this Shrew are almost unknown. The 



little evidence we have goes to show that they pair, but that the 

 male abandons the nest for a time, perhaps under pressure, on 

 the arrival of the young. The first pairing season occurs in 

 early April. Dr. Merriam says ■? " On the 22d of April, 1 878, 1 

 found a couple of these Shrews under a plank-walk near my 

 museum. They proved to be male and female, and the latter 

 contained young, which, from their size, would probably have 



' Habits of the Short-tailed Shrew, Blarina breincauda (Say), \m. Nat., August, 1907, 

 pp. 495-522, 5 illustrations. 



'Mam. Adir., 1884, p. 172. 



ING 



