CEOCIDUEA. 235 



Dimensions. A large male from Nepal measured from snout to 

 veut 5-5 inches, tail 3'4, height of ear from orifice 0-38, hind foot 

 from heel (claws not included) 0-9. In a large female from Dar- 

 jiling the corresponding dimensions were 5-3, 3-2, 0-43, and O78. 

 In a smaller, perfectly adult, female from Mari (Punjab) the mea- 

 surements were 4, 2-7, 0-4, and 0-72. With this and other species, 

 it must be borne in mind, as already mentioned in the description 

 of the genus, that immature specimens cannot be distinguished by 

 their external characters. 



Varieties. The common Himalayan form ($. rjriffithi, Horsf., 

 and S. saturation Hodgson) is deep brown in colour, with longer 

 and thicker hair than the form occurring in the plains of India. 

 The latter is often lighter brown in colour (Sorex tytleri, Blyth, 

 and Orocidura blunfordi, Anderson), but the deep rich brown variety 



Fig. 66. Upper incisors, canines, and preinolars of Crocidura murlna, var. 

 montana, from below. (Dobson, Mon. Ins., unpublished.) 



is prevalent in Burma and the Malay countries and may be con- 

 sidered typical ; the most important of the other varieties is 

 the dark ashy grey type (Sorex serpentarius, S. kandiamu, &c.), 

 often with 'brown or ferruginous tips to the fur (S. ferrur/ineus). 

 A blackish-brown variety has been named S. niyer. It is possible 

 that some of the names quoted above as synonyms of C. murina 

 should have been referred to the next species, G. cwrulsa; but the 

 latter is doubtfully distinct, and there can be no question that 

 intermediate forms (probably hybrids) are met with. The type of 

 /S. nemorivayus, Hodgson, is an immature specimen. I doubt the 

 distinctness of the small Ceylon shrew called G. montana by 

 Anderson, and I am not convinced that it is the same form as 

 Sorex montanus of Kelaart. 



Dstribution. Probably throughout the whole of India, Ceylon, 

 Burma, and the Oriental Eegion generally ; certainly throughout 

 the Himalayas from Kashmir to Assam, up to an elevation of 7000 

 or 8000 feet, and in many parts of the Indian peninsula and 

 Burma. Specimens are recorded from Calcutta, Ajmere, Khan- 

 dala near Bombay, Malabar, and Madras, also from Ceylon, Assam, 

 the Khasi hills, Arakan, and Tenasserim, besides many pacts of the 

 Malay peninsula and archipelago, and from China. 



