CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WATER-SHREW 67 



water-shrew than in the common variety. The 

 muzzle of the water-shrew is shorter and flatter, the 

 feet are larger and broader ; indeed, the whole 

 animal is on a larger scale than the common shrew. 

 Its habits are very similar to those of the water- 

 vole, and are, as its name implies, aquatic. It can 

 swim rapidly, and can dive and run about the 

 bottom of a pool with the greatest ease. When 

 swimming, its body is higher out of the water than 

 that of the water-vole, and it seems to run along 

 the top of the water like some of the water-beetles, 

 rather than swim in it. When it dives, the air- 

 bubbles which collect round its body give it the 

 appearance of a crystal ball. Like the common 

 shrew, it lives on worms and insects, though, 

 unlike that animal, it seeks these under and in 

 the water, as well as on the land. 



The oared shrew I have never seen, but it is 

 said to be larger than the water -shrew, and 

 generally stronger. From the best illustrations 

 which I have seen of this animal, it appears to be 

 almost black above, and of a slaty colour beneath. 

 Its habits are similar to those of the water-shrew. 

 It is apparently extremely rare. Its tail, which 

 is long and slender, is of a pale gray or white 

 on the under side. Jardine states that it has 

 been observed in Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, in 

 Battersea fields, and near Glasgow. It is probably 

 now well nigh extinct. 



In some respects the shrew resembles the mole. 

 The common shrew, as I have observed, makes 



