‘11 Gro. 5 ProvinctaL Museum Report. R 13 













































of the same species, and it is not uncommon to take specimens in different pelages on the same 
day in the same locality. The winter pelage is usually plumbeous, dusky or ash grey; the 
summer pelage, sepia brown or chestnut. In defining the various species, identification has been 
largely based on cranial and dental characters, such as the size and form of the brain-case, 
breadth of palate, length and degree of attenuation of the rostrum, and the breadth of the 
interorbital construction, while size and depth of emargination of the molariform teeth and the 
proportion of the unicuspidate teeth are the chief factors of dentition. 
Comparatively little field-work has been done in British Columbia collecting our smaller 
mammals, many areas being untouched, where further research may furnish new material and 
in some instances would undoubtedly extend the geographic distribution known to us at the 
present time. 
The following species occur within our limits :— 
Sorex personatus Geoffroy St. Hilaire. Type locality, Eastern United States (exact locality 
unknown). Distributed throughout the Boreal and Transition Zones of North America from 
New England to Alaska. Specimens identified from Glacier; Field; Cariboo Lake; Sicamous; 
Mount Baker Range. 
Sorex sphagnicola Coues. Type locality, vicinity of Fort Laird, B.C., about latitude 60. 
Geographic distribution, sub-arctic America from extreme Northern British Columbia (and 
probably Alaska) to Hudson Bay. 
Sorex setosus Elliot. Type locality, Happy Lake, Clallam County, Olympic Mountains, 
Washington. Two specimens in the collection of the Provincial Museum from Khutze Inlet, B.C., 
recently identified, are placed here. 
Sorex vagrans Baird. Type locality, Shoalwater Bay, Washington. Range, Southern British 
Columbia, Western Washington and Oregon, and Northern California (south on the coast to 
Monterey and in the mountains to old Fort Crook and Cassel). Restricted to Lower Boreal 
and Upper Transition Zones. Specimens identified from Port Moody; Sumas; Mount Baker 
Range; Okanagan. 
Sorex vancouverensis Merriam. Type from Goldstream, Vancouver Island, B.C. General 
eharacters similar to S. vagrans, but larger, with decidedly larger fore feet and much darker 
coloration. Range, so far as we know, confined to Vancouver Island, where specimens from 
Victoria and Sahtlam, Parksville, Errington, and Alberni are identified as this species. 
Sorex obscurus Merriam. Type locality, Timber Creek, Salmon River Mountains, Idaho; 
altitude, 8,200 feet. Geographic distribution, British Columbia and mountains of Western 
Washington; Idaho; Montana; Wyoming; Utah and Colorado; south along the high Sierra 
Nevada in California to Mount Whitney. Restricted to Boreal Zone. Specimens identified 
from Nelson; Ward; Field; Glacier; Golden; Cariboo Lake; Sicamous; Sumas; Port Moody; 
also Goldstream and Comox, on Vancouver Island, 
Sorex obscurus longicauda Merriam. Type from Wrangell, South-east Alaska. Sorex obscurus 
is a strictly boreal-species and in the United States it is exclusively a mountain animal, not 
descending to base-level until British Columbia is reached. In the Puget Sound region, however, 
and along the coast of Washington and thence northerly to Alaska it sends a representative all 
the way down to sea-level. This represemtative is larger, has developed an exceedingly long tail, 
and has taken on certain peculiarities of coloration, being described by Merriam as a subspecies, 
in the belief that intergradation with obscurus takes place. Three specimens examined from 
Port Moody, British Columbia, are more or less intermediate between S. longicauda and 
S. obscurus. 
Sorex longicauda elassodon Osgood (Queen Charlotte Shrew). Type from Cumshewa Inlet, 
Moresby Island, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia collected June 18th, 1900, by W. H. 
Osgood and E, Heller. Specimens taken at Cumshewa; Skidegate; Masset. 
Sorex longicauda prevostensis Osgood (Prevost Island Shrew). Type from Prevost Island, 
Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia; collected July 8rd, 1900, by W. H. Osgood and 
EB. Heller. Range, only known from Prevost Island, Q.C.I., and differing from the shrews of 
Graham and Moresby Islands to a greater degree than from the Mainland species S. longicauda. 
Sorex trowbridgi Baird. Type locality, Astoria, Oregon. Ranges throughout Western Wash- 
ington and Oregon, west of the Cascade Range. Museum specimens taken at Sumas are identified 
as this species. 
