1936] 



MAMMALS OF OREGON 



367 



FIGURE 90. Range in Oregon of : 1, Sorex trigontros- 

 tris; 2, 8. preblei; 3, 8. merriami. Type localities 

 circled. - 



Measurements. Of type, adult female: Total length, 95 mm; tail, 34; foot, 

 12. Adult male from west slope of Grizzly Peak : 106 ; 36 ; 14. 



Distribution and habitat. Known only from the type locality 

 near Ashland, north base of Siskiyou Mountains, at 1,900 feet, and 

 one specimen from the west slope of Grizzly Mountain, a few miles 

 farther north at 3,500 feet (fig. 90). Nothing is known of its fur- 

 ther distribution or habits 

 except that it evidently 

 represents the Sorex or- 

 natus group of California. 



SOREX MERRIAMI DOBSON 

 MERRIAM'S SHREW 



Sorex merriami Dobson, Mono- 

 graph Insectivora, pt. 3, 

 fasc. 1, pi. 23, fig. 6, 1880. 



Type. Collected at Little 

 Bighorn River, near Fort Ous- 

 ter, Mont., December 26, 1884, 

 by Charles E. Bendire. 



General characters. S i z e 

 small, skull short and wide 

 with fourth upper unicuspid 

 tooth smaller than third; 

 color gray above, white below ; upper parts light brownish gray or warm drab, 

 whole lower parts, feet, and lower surface of tail white or whitish ; top of tail 

 grayish brown to tip. 



Measurements. Of type specimen from alcohol : Total length, 90 mm ; tail, 

 36; foot, 11. 



Distribution and habitat. Known by one specimen each from 

 Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon at lo- 

 calities in semiarid Upper Sonoran Zone valleys (fig. 90). One 

 specimen from near Antelope, Oreg., 1 from Starbuck in south- 

 eastern Washington, and 1 from Desert Ranch, 100 miles northeast 

 of Golconda, Nev., and near the southeast corner of Oregon, suggest 

 a range over the whole sagebrush valley country of eastern Oregon. 

 The Oregon specimen was found in a creek valley about 7 miles 

 southeast of Antelope June 23, 1896. It was dead and dried up 

 when found and may have been brought from a little distance by 

 cat, weasel, or hawk,' but probably was near where it was killed. It 

 was in semiarid sagebrush country where burrows of kangaroo rats 

 were common. The Nevada specimen was collected by Heller in the 

 fall of 1914 in an arid sagebrush locality and was taken away from 

 a house cat that brought it in. The North Dakota specimen, col- 

 lected by Jewett, June 13, 1913, was found, partly eaten and left 

 probably by some hawk or owl, on top of a badland butte near 

 Medora, also in arid sagebrush country. 



Unlike any other known species of the genus Sorex, these little 

 gray, white-bellied shrews seem to be adapted to desert conditions in 

 a hot, dry zone. As yet nothing is known of their habits, as all of 

 the specimens have been picked up or secured through accident. 

 When a clue to their habits is obtained, they may be found to be 

 locally common over parts of their wide range. 



