NECTOGALE. 247 



on the soles of the feet enlarged into broad disks. Tail long, with 

 fringes of white hairs on the sides and lower surface and on the 

 terminal portion of the upper surface ; last third of tail compressed. 



Teeth white: i. f=f, c. ^, pm. ]={, in. gS =28, as in Cro- 

 cidura. 



This is a more thoroughly aquatic form than its near ally 

 Chimarrogale. Only one species is known. 



132. Nectogale elegans. The Tibetan Water-Shrew. 



Nectogale elegans, A. Milne-Edwards, Comptes Rendus, Ixx, p. 341 

 (1870) ; id. Rech. Mam. p. 266, pis. 39, 39 A; W. Blanford, P. A. 

 S. B. 1875, p. 198. 



Eye very small. Snout covered with fur as thick as that on the 

 body. Hind feet large and broad, double the length of the fore 

 feet, naked above, only the terminal phalanges free from the web 

 and fringed with hairs like those on the sides of the feet, white, 

 coarse and flattened, and nearly y^ inch long, or twice the length 

 of those in Chimarrogale. A few scattered coarse hairs on the 

 upper surface of the metacarpus. Hair fringing the fore feet 

 short, and no fringes to the toes, but the disks beneath the sole 

 are similar to those on the hind feet. Tail well clad above with 

 short flat hairs, densely clad with similar flat hairs below, which 

 form fringes. There is one along each side of the basal third of 

 the tail, the two unite and form a median inferior fringe for the 

 remaining two thirds, along each side of which is a lateral fringe, 

 dying out towards the end, where the tail is distinctly compressed, 

 whilst on. the terminal portion there is an upper median fringe. 

 Fur extremely dense, soft, and long, evidently adapted for a cold 

 climate, with conspicuous longer hairs on the back and sides, 

 becoming most numerous on the rump. 



Colour rich dark brown above, the longer hairs glistening white ; 

 upper lip, chin, throat, and breast whitish, passing into light brown 

 on the abdomen and flanks, but the line of division well marked in 

 front of the fore limbs. Tail v\hity brown above, white below. 

 The fur when wet is iridescent. 



Dimensions. Head and body 3*6 inches, tail 4, hind foot 1, 

 extreme length of skull 1. 



Distribution. Tibet. First found by Pere David in Eastern 

 Tibet, then a specimen was procured by Mr. Mandelli from the 

 Sikhim frontier. I once saw a small mammal, probably this 

 species, swimming in a deep stream at 1 5,000 feet above the sea, 

 near Momay Samdong in Sikhim. This shrew is evidently an 

 inhabitant of high elevations, and may hereafter be found in other 

 parts of the high Himalayas and Tibet. 



Habits. Evidently Nectogale, from its structure, is thoroughly 

 aquatic. The enlarged disk-like pads of the feet are believed by 

 A. Milne-Edwards to be employed as suckers, and to enable the 

 animal to hold on to smooth rocks or stones in a stream-rbed. 



