Subspecies of I'^uropean Shrewa. 507 



coloration, coiispicuoiusly darkei- than British or Scandinavian 

 forms of S. araneus, and lacking the markedly tricoloured 

 arrangement prevalent in specimens from the continental 

 plain. 



Neomys fodiens naias, subsp. n. 



Size. — The collector's mea><urements indicate an animal of 

 about the same size as the British form, but with slightly 

 longer tail and larger ears and feet. 



Colour above near black, sometimes with a tuft of whitish 

 hairs just behind each ear ; below glossy or silvery " cream," 

 sometimes almost white; line of demarcation distinct, its 

 course as in the Sorex described above. Hidden portions of 

 the hairs above " blackish slatr," below lighter and almost 

 approaching " plumbeous." 



Tail bicoloured similarly to the body and with inferior 

 " keel " of whitish hairs. 



Feet dusky to silvery grey, the inner surfaces darker: soles 

 nearly black, thickly fringed with whitish hairs. 



Dimensions in millimetres of ten Specimens. 



Head and 

 body. Tail. Hind foot. Ear. 



Maximum 84 66 20 7 



Mean 77-1 607 18-8 6-6 



Minimum 68 56 18 5 



Mean of 11 British) 

 specimens. j 



The skull has a basilar length of 18 to 20 mm. ; as com- 

 pared with skulls of British specimens, the rostral region is 

 somewhat more attenuated and the upper canine somewhat 

 more conspicuous. 



Hab. Hatzeg, Transylvania, Southern Carpathians, at 

 altitudes of 1500 to 2000 feet. 



Tyiye (a female), no. 3. 11. 8. 11 of British Museum Collec- 

 tion, taken at Nechesh Galben, Hatzeg, 3rd November, 1902, 

 altitude 2000 feet. Dimensions : — Head and body 79 mm., 

 tail ib^, hind foot 19, ear 7. 



This beautiful water-shrew far excels the British form in 

 brilliancy and contrast of coloration. Nearly all the conti- 

 nental water-shrews which I have been able to examine are 

 of more silvery-white tints on the under surface than the 

 British, but the Transylvanian seems to present an extreme 

 of the series. 



The specimens in the British Museum indicate that the 



34* 



