2 Adams, Life of the Common and the Lesser Shrew. 



sometimes begin earlier and end later. The shorter 

 summer coat first appears as a patch on the head or neck 

 and thence extends over the back to the tail, the line of 

 demarcation between the two coats beinc^ very marked ; 

 also loose hairs are very noticeable. 



Of course, all those individuals that moult in the 

 spring have the dark coats characteristic of maturity 

 which were acquired during the previous autumn, and the 

 summer coat is of the same dark colour. With the winter 

 coat is shed all, or nearly all the hair on the ears, feet 

 and tail, which parts are never reclothed with a summer 

 pelage. 



Now those that have cast their winter coats, and are 

 ipso facto adults, do not (so far as my observation goes) 

 participate in the autumn moult of the juveniles. 



This is particularly significant, and if my theory 

 that the parent generation dies out every autumn be 

 correct, it is not only quite intelligible but almost in- 

 dispensable to it ; for if the adults are not to live through 

 the winter, why should they perform the useless operation 

 of preparing for it ? On the other hand, if the adults do 

 survive the winter, why should they not prepare for it 

 like the juveniles and (?) all other furred creatures ? 



B. The Aututun Moult. Barrett-Hamilton gives the 

 duration of this moult from September 14th to October 

 7th,* but I have seen individuals incompletely moulted 

 up to November i ith, on which date two specimens were 

 captured without any signs of moult. In order to 

 ascertain the precise duration of the process I kept an 

 unmoulted Common Shrew under observation. He was 

 caught on September 29th. On October 2nd a darker 

 patch appeared on the lower part of the back, and 

 gradually extended till it reached the neck on October 7th. 



* op. cit 



