MAMMALS SORICINAE BLARINA ANGUSTICEPS. 



47 



I am very much at a loss to identify the Sorex ' carolinensis of Dekay, (N. Y. Zool. I, 1842, 

 21 ; pi. xxi, f. 2). In this the length is given at 4 inches for head and hody, and 0.4 of an inch 

 for the tail, or not half as long as the head ; teeth, 36. It certainly is not the true Sorex caro 

 linensis. If these characters are really as given "by Dekay, it certainly is one of the most 

 remarkable of all American shrews, and is not only a new species, hut will probably constitute 

 a new genus. I am inclined to think there is some mistake, however, as according to the 

 figure the tail measures nearly one inch to a body of about 2^. 



List of specimens. 



BLABINA ANGUSTICEPS, Baird. 



S P . CH. Tail as long as the head ; general appearance that of B. talpoides and carolinensis, intermediate between them in size. 

 Plumbeous all over, scarcely paler beneath. Skull unusually narrow, the constriction greater than in others of the section, and 

 more anterior. Fifth upper premolar large, and visible from outside; anterior lower incisor extending back only to the middle 

 of the second premolar. Length, 2.60; tail, (hairs,) 1.00; hind foot, 0.55. 



A shrew from Burlington, Vermont, in external appearance, perfectly resembles specimens of 

 S. talpoides, but has some remarkable peculiarities of the skull. This is much narrower than 

 in any short-tailed shrew I have ever seen, and the greatest interorbital constriction is situated 

 a little anterior to the middle of the skull, instead of posterior to it, as in other species of 

 Blarina. The amount of constriction is also greater. The outline of the jaw outside of the 

 molars, as viewed from above, instead of being convex is nearly straight. The inequality 

 between the third and fourth upper premolars, and the first and second, is less conspicuous, and 

 the fifth premolar is distinctly visible from the side between the fourth premolar and the first 

 molar ; indeed, in size it is not much inferior to the former. The lower anterior incisor is long, 

 acute, and with one lobe on the cutting edge. It extends posteriorly only as far as the centre 

 of the second premolar, instead of to the first molar. The lower jaw is rather narrow. 



In many respects this skull closely resembles the true Sorex, as in the narrow skull, small 

 molars, backward extent of lower anterior incisors, &c., but is nevertheless a true Brachysorex 

 or Blarina, having no internal lobe to the upper anterior incisor ; the short tail, &c. It con 

 stitutes a very interesting connecting link between the two groups. I regret that I cannot give 

 any satisfactory external characters by which to designate this species, especially as the skull is 

 so entirely different from all other I have seen ; enough so to almost make a distinct sub-genus. 

 It is nearly uniformly bluish gray all over, with a wash of brown on the back ; the feet and tip 

 of the tail are white. This latter feature is not characteristic, however, as I have seen it in 

 other species. 



