Manchester Memoirs, Vol. liv. (1910), A^k 10. 3 



stomachs of Adders. Dogs will swallow them, but vomit 

 them again, and cats are well known to kill but never to 

 eat them. The number found dead, hou-ever, cannot all 

 be put down to dogs and cats ! 



The male shrews fight fiercely, especially in the 

 breeding season, when nearly all that are trapped bear 

 wounds, notabh' on the tail. The females also show 

 signs of conflict, their tails and feet being often quite 

 denuded of hair and covered with bites. The fighting, 

 moreover, is by no means entirely due to sexual quarrels, 

 for the immature of both sexes bear the marks of teeth 

 upon their tails, often within a very short time after leaving 

 the nest. Immature individuals are found dead through- 

 out the summer and autumn, owing to their lack of 

 experience in obtaining nourishment and in escaping 

 from enemies. This mortality of the young helps to 

 swell the numbers found dead during the "autumn 

 epidemic."* 



I have found that during the winter shrews are to be 

 trapped exclusively in the hedges, but after the beginning 

 of May they mostly leave the hedges and frequent the 

 long grass where they make their breeding nests. I may 

 mention that Mr. Millaisf was the first to draw attention 

 to the ancient error, perpetuated through all the text- 

 books, that the shrews spend the winter months " in 

 profound torpor." Though they may be trapped freely 

 during the hardest frost they have a great objection to 

 wet. Neither are they solely nocturnal in their habits ; 

 they may be observed during the day time in dry weather 

 at all seasons of the year. 



* A similar loss of life may be noticed in the case of young Moles, many 

 of which are run over by carts or meet with other disasters on the country 

 roads and lanes. 



t " Mammals of Great Britain and Ireland,"' vol. i., p. Ib4, 



