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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



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brushy areas, in old fields, 

 and along grassy banks. 

 Within the city of Wash- 

 ington it is common in 

 Rock Creek Park, where 

 it lives in covered runs 

 which it makes among the 

 grass and fallen leaves. 

 These shrews drink fre- 

 quently, and this may in 

 part account for their 

 abundance near streams 

 or other water, although 

 it may be the desirable 

 moist soil conditions 

 which draw them to such 

 situations. 



The runways of these 

 shrews are scarcely half 

 an inch wide, usually 

 partly sunken in the mold 

 or rotting surface vegeta- 

 tion. These are not made 

 by digging, but by push- 

 ing aside the loose mold, 

 and they cross and re- 

 cross in an irregular net- 

 work. They lead to the en- 

 trances to burrows which 

 generally drop nearly 

 straight down. The bur- 

 rows are sometimes amid 

 the leaves, but usually 

 under the shelter of a 

 root, stump, old log, or 

 other cover. In addition 

 to their own runways, the 

 shrews make free use of 

 the runs of meadow mice 

 and even traverse the 

 tunnels of the pine mice 

 and moles in their rest- 

 less search for prey. 



Small rounded cham- 

 l)ers opening off their 

 underground runways are 

 filled with tine grass, 

 pieces of leaves, and 

 other soft matter for a 

 nest. One nest examined 

 was made entirely from 

 the hair of meadow mice, 

 probably the spoils of 

 war from the bodies of 

 victims. As a rule, shrews 

 are extremely unsocial, 

 but a pair of this species 

 is sometimes found oc- 

 cupying the same nest, no 

 doubt a temjiorary ar- 

 rangement. Several lit- 

 ters, containing from four 

 to six each, appear to be 

 born through the summer 

 and fall, usually begin- 

 ning in June. 



While equally active by 

 day, and by night, the eyes 

 of these shrews seem to 



