INSECT-EATING MAMMALS 75 



season occurs during the spring, and in May the female gives 

 birth to from five to ten young ones, which are housed in a 

 circular cavity at the end of a long winding burrow. The water 

 shrew drives a passage upwards into this nest, commencing 

 underneath the surface of the water on the side of the bank, 

 while the nest has, of course, another passage leading to the air. 

 The entrance to this upper passage is generally approached by a 

 number of paths radiating in different directions. The interior 

 of the nest is lined with soft grass. Mr. Trevor-Battye describes 

 the young water shrews as being most sportive and amusing little 

 creatures, which may be seen playing and chasing one another on 

 the ground outside the burrow. When the creature is alarmed it 

 generally enters its burrow from the hole made under the surface 

 of the water. 



Its swimming and diving powers are remarkable, and resemble 

 those of the otter. In swimming it moves chiefly by the action 

 of the hind feet, which paddle alternately so as to impart a 

 wriggling motion to the body. As a rule it swims on or close to 

 the surface, constantly putting its nose out of water. Its body 

 flattens and spreads out, the long flattened tail acts as a rudder, 

 and the fore paws are generally drooping and inactive. The 

 water shrew frequently seeks for its food at the bottom of the 

 stream, turning over stones in its hunt for small crustaceans or 

 water insects. It devours insects both on land and in the water, 

 fresh-water shrimps, frog spawn, tiny fish, fresh-water molluscs, 

 and even carrion. 



The range of the water shrew in Britain is entirely confined 

 to England and Wales (where it is very common) and Scotland 

 (where it is rare). It extends to the extreme north of Scotland, 

 but has never been obtained in the Hebrides or any of the other 

 islands ofi' the west coast of Scotland. It is quite unknown in 

 Ireland. Its existence in England dates from the beginning of 

 the Pleistocene Epoch. Elsewhere in the world the water 

 shrew seems to extend across Central Asia to the Altai Mountains 

 of Siberia. It does not reach America. 



