WILD LIFE OF ORCHARD AND FIELD 



her garden. It was so small she could hide it in 

 her closed hand — all except a long, flexible, pro- 

 boscis-like nose, pink and tender, that waved about 

 and up and down like a miniature elephant's trunk, 

 and was plainly the creature's chief bureau of in- 

 formation. The fur was blue-gray and exquisitely 

 soft — velvet is rough in comparison ; the ears close 

 set, the tail short, and the white feet, each toe 

 perfectly modelled, so delicate that a magnifying- 

 glass was needed to fully display their beauty. 



A few nights afterwards two others were taken 

 in a similar unintended and unbaited trap. Both 

 were dead, although entirely unhurt. Did they 

 die simply of fright? There seems to be no other 

 explanation; yet it ''comports not well" with the 

 shrew's courage and endurance. Shrieking like 

 an angry vixen, it will face fearlessly and fairly 

 whip the heavy field - mouse ; and in captivity it 

 is necessary to keep these morsels of pugnacity 

 apart or they will fight incessantl3', and, if possi- 

 ble, kill the weaker of their fellow-prisoners. Their 

 teeth, set in an even row round their jaws, cire like 

 needles, and can pierce and hold the most slip- 

 perj^ beetle or liveliest worm. 



Shrews are really ver^^ common, and in the 

 warmer States extremely numerous, but they rarely 



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