88 SORICID.-E— SOREX 



and terminates near the anus. The tail is bicoloured — "seal brown" 

 above, " broccoli brown " below. 



In summer the upper side is typically grizzled "mummy brown," 

 many of the hairs being tipped with lighter shades. The flank-band is 

 less clearly defined, and there is a stronger wash of yellowish on the 

 under surface. 



The first coat of the )^oung resembles that of the parents in summer, 

 and also that of the adult P}-gm\' Shrew, but displays a peculiar iridescence 

 which is lost in adults (English). The hidden basal portions of the hairs 

 are everywhere and at all seasons " clove brown," or " slate black." 



A moult ^ occurs normally twice a year, viz., in spring (instances 

 examined from 12th April to 14th June) and in autumn (14th September 

 to 7th October). Frequently, but not invariably, the change is seen 

 first on the head in spring, proceeding abruptly backwards and 

 frequently leaving a sharp division between the fore parts of the body, 

 which may be in summer coat, and the hinder parts, which may still 

 carry the winter pelage. The winter coat is resumed in the reverse 

 order, starting from the posterior end of the body, so that in autumn 

 again there are found individuals in which the fore and hinder parts of 

 the body are in different pelages. 



The square appearance of the tail, which gave rise to the technical 

 name tetragonurus, is most evident in the summer months, when the 

 hairs have been shed or are worn down. In this condition the angles 

 are rounded and not sharp, and the shape of these arises from the 

 vertebrae as seen through the skin. At the same time the feet are 

 often naked and the ears bare. The dates at which these parts (feet, 

 ears, and tail) are found bare suggest that they may not follow the 

 routine of the pelage moults, but may change their hairs only once a 

 year at a variable date during summer. 



Common Shrews exhibit a high degree of individual variation, the 

 cause of which is not understood. The tints of the upper and under 

 sides are especially liable to aberration from the normal, and the flank 

 band may be entirely absent, its place being taken by a quite indefinite 

 line of demarcation. Much irregularity is manifested in regard to the 

 exact time of the moult, and many specimens are found with the long 

 winter coat combined with the colours of summer, and even more 

 frequently with the short summer coat coloured as in winter. These 

 suggest the coloration of certain continental subspecies. I find con- 

 siderable uniformity of colour in September, just before the autumnal 

 moult. 



Extreme summer specimens reach tints in the neighbourhood of 

 " wood brown," and so merge into true 6". castaneus of Jenyns, a rufous 



1 These moults and the manner in which the fur is changed were mentioned by 

 Witchell and Strugnell, Fauna and Flora 0/ Gloucestershire^ 1892, 9. 



