THE COMMON SHREW 89 



variety of a " tint, in the recently killed animal, . . . quite as bright and 

 decided as in the harvest-mouse or squirrel." 



Specimens from East Anglia are usually more brightly coloured, 

 with darker back, sharper line of demarcation, and more plainly 

 marked " flank-band," which in winter results in a distinctly tricoloured 

 appearance. The summer coat is often almost as dark as that of 

 winter, and melanism generally is frequent, in which case the flank- 

 band may be obliterated. This form appears to approach, if indeed it 

 be not identical with, the subspecies .S. a. araneus of central Europe. 



The length of the tail is a very variable feature. 



Exceptional colour-variation and sports : — Melanism is rare in 6*. a. 

 castaneus, but frequent in true araneus. Gurney records an example of 

 this kind of variation from Norfolk {Zoologist, 1879, 123). 



Albinism is much more abundant than melanism in British shrews, 

 and the occurrence of at least four albinos, in one case a male with pink 

 eyes, has been placed on record (Bartlett, /ozini. at., 1843,287; Grab- 

 ham, /own. cit., 1895, 268; \io\X\s, J ourn. cit., 1910, 307; Forrest, MS.). 

 Other less definitely described specimens are an "albino" mentioned 

 by Coward and Oldham, a small white female from Somerset, in the 

 British Museum, and two in J. Whitaker's collection (see Field, 19th 

 February 1910, 333). Service has figured a cream-coloured specimen 

 {Ann. Scott. Nat. Hist., 1896, 202; and 1903, 6j , pi. i.) ; another was 

 noticed in 1868 (Bladon, Zoologist, 1868, 1096), while a white shrew 

 with brown tail-tip and a slight ashy tint on the upper side both of head 

 and body is in the Royal Scottish Museum (Traquair, Ann. Scott. 

 Nat. Hist., 1902, 117). 



Partially white specimens are quite frequent; sometimes they are 

 whitish all over, or they may be finely powdered with white so as to 

 resemble somewhat the colour and appearance of a " roan " horse. But 

 more often the white appears either as a tip to the tail, or as a spot 

 near or over the occiput, between, but a little behind, the ears. This is 

 probably the " grey patch " which English has known to be developed 

 on the head of a captive specimen and which he suggests may be due to 

 poor condition. Of the latter variety I have examined five specimens. 

 Many (in some locahties the majority) have conspicuous white hairs on 

 the ears, and others have spectacle-like marks around the eyes. Perhaps 

 the most remarkable recorded variation is the pied skin described by 

 Bell as having a broad white band over the loins, extending completely 

 around the body ; the interest of this variety is increased by the fact 

 that Rope has met with an almost similar one {Zoologist, 1883, 220). 



The general characteristics of the skull and dentition have been 

 already described under the heading of the genus. In S. araneus the 

 skull is rounder, larger, and more strongly built than in 5. ininutus. 

 The teeth (Fig. 24, No. i), are markedly larger, and the relative size 



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