MAMMALS SORICINAE BLARIffA TALPOIDES. 41 



With, a very large number of specimens before me, I have been more than usually perplexed 

 in the attempt to determine the species of short-tailed shrews, as given by authors, and espe 

 cially to distinguish between S. brevicaudus and S. dekayi, of Bachman, Dekay, and others. I 

 am satisfied that the latter species is identical with S. talpoides, of Gapper, (which indeed has 

 priority of date,) having found no essential difference between Canadian specimens and those 

 from Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, and elsewhere. Gapper's 

 specimen, it will be remembered, was taken in the district between York and Lake Simcoe, in 

 Upper Canada. 



Thus far I have not been able to find any shrews from Massachusetts, New York, or the ad 

 joining States, possessing all the characters assigned by Bachman and Dekay. The hair of the 

 same species varies with season, being longer, softer, and fuller in winter ; the precise shade of 

 color is likewise not constant. The proportions of the shrews unless taken from alcoholic, or fresh 

 specimens, vary exceedingly in the same species, according as the skin is under or over stuffed. 



For the present, therefore, I shall refer all the large shrews with short tails, from the Atlantic 

 States, to the S. talpoides. I have, however, before me some specimens from the Upper Missouri 

 and Iowa, which, as they differ in size from any in the East, and agree rather more nearly with 

 the S. brevicaudus, of Say, I shall refer to this species. 



The accompanying tables of measurements of many specimens, in alcohol, will illustrate the 

 variations of proportions, even in animals from the same locality and almost the same nest. 



Nor do I feel sure that the Sorex carolinensis, of Bachman, is really anything else than a small 

 S. talpoides. The measurements given by him (length 3 inches) agree precisely with many from 

 Massachusetts and elsewhere, and are essentially the same in proportion with those of the largest 

 sized specimens of S. talpoides. The number of teeth (34) assigned by him, is unquestionably a 

 mistake, as no known shrew, from any part of the world, has so many. There is, however, a 

 distinct species in the Southern States, considerably smaller than S. talpoides, to which Bach- 

 man's name may be applied. 



The geographical range of S. talpoides, as will appear from the preceding table of localities, 

 is very great, extending from the eastern portion of Nova Scotia to Lake Superior, and including 

 Canada, Yermont, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin, and southward through Massachu 

 setts, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, to Columbus, Georgia. South of 

 Pennsylvania it is probable that it is confined to the vicinity of the mountains, as it has not yet 

 been detected near the coast nor west of the Alleghanies, where its place is supplied by the 

 smaller S. carolinensis. 



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