XXIV 



SHREWS AND BATS 



"The shrew-mouse eyes me slmdderingly, then flees; and, 



worse than that, 



The house-dog he flees after me why was I born a cat ? " 



Fly Leaves. 



"The lether- winged batt, dayes enemy." 



The Fa'e'rie Queene. 



SHREWS, as a rule, are apt to escape notice, owing 

 to their nocturnal habits and the small size of 

 most of the species, but every one in India is 

 familiar with the great musk-shrews, or " musk-rats," 

 as they are commonly called, who are constantly in- 

 vading houses and leaving unpleasant evidence of 

 their visits in an overpowering and all-pervading 

 musky odour. They are strange-looking creatures 

 at any time, and particularly so whilst running 

 about a garden in late dusk, when their pallidly 

 bluish-grey coats look as though they had been 

 smeared with luminous paint and stand out con- 

 spicuous amid the surrounding gloom. Soon after 

 sundown they begin to come out and run busily 



2S4 



