20 SORECID^. 



exceeding the second, and the fourth diminutive. Teeth white. Ear 

 conch distinct. Tail thick and tapering, furnished with a few long 

 scattered hairs. 



Dentition. Inc. -, c. -,m.^^^ = 30. 



2 ^ 5 — 



All the Indian species inhabit old walls, stone heaps, hay ricks, 

 kitchens, &c., living in holes in the ground. They are very pugnacious, 

 and it is said if two are confined in a box, the weaker of the two will 

 be found killed and partly devoured. 



Lateral gland present. 



Sorex cserulescens, Shatv ; Var Sindensis, Bhjth, Gat, 244; S, 

 Indicus, S. Giganteus, S. Sonneratti, Ocoff; Var Sindensis, Anderson, 

 J. A. 8. B. vol. xlvii. pi. ii. 1877 ; Murray, EdhJc., Zool, ^'c, Bind, 

 p. 70. 



Snout moderately long and pointed ; ears full and rounded, sparsely 

 clad, the margins and flaps, with longish, somewhat stiff hairs. Lower 

 half of limbs seminude; feet slender and toes rather long. Tail 

 rounded, slightly swollen at the base, and about four-fifth the length 

 of the trunk. Fur moderately long, soft, and glossy, neutral grey and 

 washed with umber, but not obscuring the grey ; underparts neutral 

 grey, with a silvery sheen in certain lights. Snout grey ; feet yellowish, 

 sparsely clad with whitish hairs. Claws rather long and hooked. Tail 

 ringed, sparsely clad with white hairs with a few longer interspersed, 

 but much shorter than in the generality of Indian shrews. 



Length.— "Ti-^ of snout to vent 4-70 inches ; tail 2-80''; hind foot 0-82*'; 

 tip of snout to eye 0-70*'; eye to ear 0'30"; height of ear O'SS*; breadth 

 of ear O'SS". Upper incisors short and stout, curved, nearly convergent 

 at their tips. No eminence of the ciugulum on the inside of the 

 posterior portion of the teeth which is rather broader than the base of 

 the elongated portion. Second incisor not very large, but equalling the 

 conjoint breadth of the third incisor and canine. Third incisor consi- 

 derably smaller than the canine, but the tip of the latter is somewhat 

 above the level of that of the former. The premolar is not very small, 

 and it is nearly as broad as the canine, behind which it directly lies, but 

 externally it is nearly wholly hidden by the first molar. The anterior 

 cusp on the first molar and its large cutting cusp are not strongly 

 developed, the point of the latter is below the level of that of the 

 second incisor. The anterior portion of the frontals is not much 

 narrower than the portion behind the orbits. Anterior margin of 

 foramen magnum to tip of premaxilla, I'lO inches. Breadth across 

 maxilla (molars) 0*40*'; behind infra-orbital foramen 0*25*', anterior to 

 brain case 0-26'', external to glenoid fossa) 0-48*'; external to tympanic 

 0'55*. Length of upper alveolar line O'SS". Condyle of lower jaw to 

 anterior end of alveolar line 0-60* {Anderson, J.A.S.B.) 



Hah. — Sind (Kurrachee, Kotreo, Sehwan). At Kurrachee it afiects 

 drains and enters houses at night. Its presence is readily known by 

 a sharp shrill cry it makes on first moving from any place at which 



