48 Professor MacGillivray on the Mammalia of the 
scribed above, was caught alive by me near a brook on the coast of 
Slains, On being set free in the manse, it shewed great activity, 
screamed when annoyed, attempted to bite the finger, and tore vo- 
raciously at a piece of flesh put into the glass with it; but not hav- 
ing been comfortably lodged at night, died next day. Although the 
species is not uncommon with us, its habits render it difficult to be 
watched, or even found. 
Adults exhibit great differences in size, and even in colour; the 
latter circumstance, however, depending greatly upon the age of the 
fur. When recent, it is deep black, minutely intermixed with a 
little grey, or even sometimes here and there whitish hairs; on the 
lower parts white, which, viewed from before, is glossy and almost 
pure, but, seen otherwise, is dull, and tinged with grey. When the 
fur is old and worn, it is more tinged with bluish-grey both above 
and beneath. ‘The bluish spot on the throat is perhaps the result of 
abrasion, and on cutting the tips of the hairs on any of the lower 
parts, the same appearance is produced. Sometimes there is a longi- 
tudinal band of dark-grey or blackish, along the middle of the belly, 
as in an individual found by Dr Irvine, in September 1844. 
The adults, then, immediately after moulting, are deep brownish- 
black above, white beneath, with a tinge of grey, the bases of the 
hairs being bluish-grey’; the two colours abruptly defined on the sides; 
the ears with white tufts, and in some individuals a small white tuft 
over each eye. 
When the fur is old, worn, and weathered, it has changed to 
brown, the white is more grey, and sometimes tinged with brown or 
red, from the soil, 
The young are at first dull brownish-black above, dull-grey be- 
neath. Toward the end of autumn, when the pile has been renewed, 
they are very dark brownish-black above, pale-grey or greyish-white, 
with a tinge of yellowish-brown, beneath, the two colours not de- 
cidedly defined on the sides, and no white tufts on the ears. 
Sorex fodiens, Gmel. Syst. Nat., i. 118. 
Sorex fodiens, Flem. Brit. Anim., 8. 
Sorex fodiens, Jen. Brit. Vert. Anim., 18; Ann. Nat. Hist., i. 
425. 
Sorex fodiens, Bell, Brit. Quad., 115. 
Fam. TALPINA. Six incisors above, eight below, closely set; upper 
canine teeth large, compressed, pointed: molar teeth seven above, all 
pointed, the posterior three broad, with several points, six below, simi- 
larly pointed. Anterior limbs very short, robust, with the foot very 
broad, the claws large, depressed; posterior limbs short, moderately 
strong, with compressed, curved, acute claws. Body cylindrical, with 
fine velvety pile; tail very short. 
Gen, TALPA. Head depressed, elongated, pointed, snout mobile ; 
eyes minute ; no external ears; teeth forty-four. 
1. Talpa europea. Common Mole. 
Middle upper incisors a third longer than the lateral, and nearly twice 
