MancJiester Meuioirs, Vo/. liv. (191OJ, No. lO- 5 



The Lesser Shrew may be trapped in the hedge 

 banks throughout the winter, and so far as my experience 

 goes, later into the spring than the Common Shrew. I 

 think the former species keeps more generally to cover 

 than the latter, though the presence of its skulls in owls' 

 pellets shows that it must come into the open pretty 

 freely. This species, though undoubtedly sporadic in 

 England, is not quite so rare as is supposed. I have 

 found it most plentifully in the neighbourhood of old 

 woods and coppices, but as farmers and gamekeepers do 

 not know it as differing from the Common Shrew, it is 

 difficult to obtain definite information. Moreover, the 

 Lesser Shrew is often overlooked by people who are aware 

 of its separate identity, because they mistake it for the 

 young of the larger species, especially when the tail has 

 lost most of its characteristic hairiness during the breeding 

 season. No mistake, however, need be made if measure- 

 ments are taken of the head-and-body and of the hind 

 foot. 



The following Table may be of use. The measure- 

 ments are in millimetres. 



As I have only found one Common Shrew so small 

 as 60 mm., and only one Lesser Shrew to measure so 

 much as 62 mm., the head-and-body measurement may 

 be considered sufficient, but as people hardly ever make 



