THE PYGMY OR LESSER SHREW in 



Sakhalin, In Skandinavia it is less numerous than 5. araneus^ but 

 inhabits all parts of Norway as far north as the Varangerfjord (70° 5' N. 

 lat), and ascends the mountains to the tree limit (Collett). It reaches 

 at least 61° north latitude in Russia (Blasius) ; and according to Dobson, 

 Proc. Zool. Soc. (London), 1891, 350, has been found within the Arctic 

 circle at the Khatanga and Olenek rivers, in Siberia, Southwards it 

 ranges to the Pyrenees {not in Spain, Cabrera), southern Italy (but not 

 in the Balkan Peninsula, ^(a('^ Miller), the (?)Crimea, the regions around 

 the Lower Volga, (?)Persia (Mazandaran, Derband, etc), and (?)Lake 

 Baikal, It would appear to be everywhere less abundant and more 

 sporadic than vS". araneus ; thus Blasius states that in Germany, of 

 200 shrews only 20 were viinutus, or 9 araneus to i mimitus ; for 

 Norway, Collett gives the corresponding figures as 210 and 7, or 

 30 araneus to i minutus ; and Adams for a small district near Reigate, 

 as 210 and 40, or 5-25 araneus to i minutus. The animal is so 

 unevenly distributed that in a second district near Reigate the figures 

 would be, according to Adams, 210 and o, while those for specimens 

 taken from owl pellets collected in many parts of England are 

 344 and 27, or nearly 13 araneus to i minutus, the latter item 

 being considered by him too high for an average ratio throughout 

 the country. 



It is directly represented in America by the hardly distinguish- 

 able vS. personatus of I. Geoffroy and allied forms, which are widely 

 distributed from ocean to ocean in arctic, boreal, and transitional 

 ^ones. 



The Pygmy Shrew is probably of as wide distribution throughout 

 the mainland of Britain as the previous species, but, as in continental 

 Europe, it appears to be, as a rule, far less numerous, though its numbers 

 seem to vary locally. Thus, although generally reputed to be rare, in 

 certain of the hill doughs of Cheshire it is as abundant as, or more so 

 than, 6". araneus (Coward, in lit.). It is common about Edinburgh, 

 especially, as W. Evans believes, in the moorland districts, but Booth 

 {Zoologist, 191 1, 314) insists on its rarity in Yorkshire. It is of wide 

 range amongst the islands, being the only shrew of Ireland, where it 

 occurs in every county and on Clare, Rathlin (Adams, MS.), and Achill 

 Islands (specimens in Dublin Museum caught by Alexander Williams) ; 

 Man ; the Outer Hebrides ; and Orkneys. I have seen specimens, 

 many taken by Kinnear, from Lewis, North Uist, Benbecula, South 

 Uist, and Barra, indicating a very wide distribution in these islands ; 

 while in the Orkneys shrew mice were mentioned by Barry (1805) as 

 found "but rarely," but were not properly identified until 1905, when 

 Eagle Clarke trapped specimens at Stromness in Mainland {Ann. Scott. 

 Nat. Hist., 1905, 8); it is common at least in that island and South 

 Ronaldshay, where it has been taken also by Godfrey and by Kinnear. 



