4 SHREW-MOUSE 



mouse, however, secretes a fluid of a disagreeable odour in special 

 glands, and this odour prevents larger animals from eating their 

 flesh, although they are not infrequently killed, probably being 

 mistaken for ordinary mice. In the autumn, numbers of these 

 little animals may be seen lying dead, but what causes this destruc- 



FIG. 2. THE COMMON SHREW OR SHREW-MOUSE. 



tion is not known. In former days the bite of the Shrew was 

 accounted of a venomous kind, whilst its body, variously treated, 

 was regarded as a cure for many complaints. 



The WATER SHREW (Crossopus fodiens), Fig. 3, attains a total 

 length of from 4^ to 5 inches. The ears are very small. Its colour 



FIG. 3. THE WATER SHREW. 



is black on the upper and white on the under parts. The fur is of 

 delicate texture, and adapted to resist the action of water. It 

 is of active habits, diving and swimming with great facility, fre- 

 quenting brooks and clear-running ditches, in the banks of which 

 it lives. It eats the larvae or grubs of various aquatic insects, and 

 is to the water what the Common Shrew is to the land. 



