Short-tailed Shrew 



Neither are weasels to be deterred by their odour from in- 

 cluding them as a regular article of diet, but cats, and I believe 

 a majority of the hawks, only eat them when compelled to by 

 stress of hunger, though they frequently kill them, either mis- 

 taking them for mice, or else doing it for fun. 



I have often picked up recently killed specimens that bore the 

 unmistakable marks of the claws of a bird of prey, while cats are 

 forever bringing them home from their hunting trips and leaving 

 them about on the lawn or in the paths. I have never known 

 a cat to bring one of them into the house, or show the least atom 

 of pride over its capture. Even the most inexperienced of kittens, 

 who invariably go off into perfect ecstasies of delight if they have 

 succeeded in bagging a baby mouse, or a fledgling fallen from the 

 nest, show only indifference or contempt when there is only a 

 mole shrew to exhibit. 



Foxes, I believe, usually bring them home for the cubs to play 

 with, as they do everything else that comes within their reach in 

 summer, but I am inclined to think that such unsavoury mor- 

 sels are seldom used as food by them during the season of 

 abundance, though undoubtedly there are often times in midwinter 

 when many a fox is glad to get even a mole shrew for supper. 



Species and Varieties of Siiort-tailed Shrews 



Beside the common short-tailed shrew and its several geo- 

 graphic varieties, we have another quite distinct smaller species of 

 a different colour. The eastern species and varieties are as fol- 

 lows -. 



1. Northern Short-tailed Shrew, Blarina brevicauda (Say). De- 



scription and range as above. 



2. Southern Short-tailed Shrew. B. brevicauda carolinensis (Bach- 



man). Smaller throughout, otherwise similar. 

 Range. Southern Indiana and Virginia to Florida. 

 }. Everglade Short-tailed Shrew. B. brevicauda peninsulce (Mer- 

 riam). Grayer than the last, with larger feet. 

 Range. Tropical Florida, especially in the Everglades. 

 4. Brown Shrew. B. parva (Say). Very distinct from any of 

 the above; colour dark-brown or iron-gray, ashy below; 

 occurs in the same localities as the short-tailed shrew and 

 doubtless is identical in habits. 

 Range. Nebraska to southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey 

 and southward, except in the mountains. 



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