86 BRITISH SHREW-MICE. 



The male shrews are, as is also the case with the 

 mole, much more numerous than the females, and 

 in the spring they seldom meet without fighting. 

 Besides this species, another kind, the chestnut 

 shrew (Sorex castaneus), is described by Mr. Jenyns. 

 I believe it merely to be the common shrew in its 

 summer fur, which at that period is light reddish 

 brown, varying in shades in different individuals. 

 Its winter and spring coat is longer and thicker, and 

 is dark brown above and grey beneath. In many 

 specimens the tints vary, and I am inclined to think 

 that both the so-called Sorex castaneus and hiber- 

 nicus to be merely specimens deviating slightly 

 from the ordinary tint. 



Two species of shrew have been discovered in a 

 mummied state in the catacombs of Thebes and 

 Memphis. Of these, one is the Sorex giganteus 

 of Isidore Geoffroy ; the other is a small species, 

 termed Sorex religiosus by the same author. Of 

 this species several well-preserved specimens existed 

 in M. Passalaqua's collection of Egyptian antiqui- 

 ties in Paris. A shrew, probably this species, 

 was especially held sacred in districts of ancient 

 Egypt, 



