66 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



pugnacious, fighting desperately with each other, 

 and to such an extent that, if two are placed in a 

 box together, the stronger makes very short work 

 of his companion. 



If the incisor teeth of a shrew are examined, 

 it will be observed that they are very peculiar, 

 resembling double teeth with very long points to 

 them, and that they are somewhat square in shape, 

 like ordinary grinders with long necks, and curved 

 downwards. The front teeth in the lower jaw 

 are very small. The whole of the dental arrange- 

 ment is peculiar, and requires to be seen to be 

 easily understood. I have an excellent drawing 

 of the jaws of a shrew before me, but I am 

 unable to describe it without the aid of illustra- 

 tion. The fur is close and soft, the under parts 

 of a pale gray, the upper parts brown, the muzzle 

 very long and tapering, and the tail long and 

 slender. The pale gray colour of the under parts 

 of the body is continued along the length of the 

 under jaw and as far as the eyes in the upper jaw, 

 forming with the brown colour of the upper parts 

 a decided line, towards which the nearer the gray 

 approaches the lighter it becomes, until it appears 

 almost white where it reaches the under jaw. 

 The whiskers are very long, and the feet are 

 flesh-coloured. The feet of the water-shrew are 

 edged with white hairs, and the upper parts 

 almost black, the under parts being nearly white. 

 The texture of the fur is much the same in both 

 species ; it may be that it is slightly thicker in the 



