8 Adams, Life of the Covimon and the Lesser Shrew. 



When I gave him his liberty, turning him loose in the 

 garden, he straightway made a long burrow under the 

 surface of a border which I could trace by the upheaval 

 of the earth. 



The most interesting peculiarity, however, was the 

 extreme short-sightedness, if not actual blindness, of this 

 little creature. If I put my hand or a stick into the jar, 

 causing a slight disturbance, he would at once become 

 aware of it, and would come and sniff about a finger or 

 stick if either happened to disturb the hay. A wriggling 

 worm, a buzzing fly, or even a creeping spider or wood- 

 louse would soon be located and preyed upon ; but a 

 dead bluebottle or motionless worm dangled before him 

 would elicit no response till within an inch of his face, 

 when he would begin to hunt about as if he smelt some- 

 thing, and only when the object came within three-quarters 

 of an inch from his nose would he dart upon it and carry 

 it off. It often happened that in his hurry he would drop 

 the prey, and then he would have to hunt for it afresh, 

 though, of course, it was close to him. In this respect he 

 reminded me very strongly of the procedure of the Mole. 

 His minute beady eyes, like those of bats, seemed to be 

 watching me and looking about, but continual tests con- 

 vinced me that the little creature was practically blind. 

 If the habits of the Common Shrew were specially 

 nocturnal it might be supposed to see better in the dark, 

 but this is certainly not the case ; I trap them freely in 

 the daytime, and my captive did not make any difference 

 in his routine night or day. 



I never saw him wash his face with his forepaws as 

 small rodents do, but he would often scratch his fur with 

 exceedingly rapid movements of his feet. 



His conspicuous characteristic was the spasmodic 

 nervous activity and restlessness of all his actions, in 



