531 



CANADA SHREW. 



Sorex Radiatus. 5". nigricans, rostro producto, apice tentaculis 



radiato. 

 Blackish Shrew, with lengthened snout, radiated at the tip with 



tentacula. 



La Taupe de Canada. Buff, suppl. 6. p. 254. pi. 37. 

 De la Faille mem. 1769. 



THIS animal may with great propriety be term- 

 ed Sorex radiatus, since the snout, which is long 

 and slender, has a dilated cartilaginous extremity, 

 furnished with a circular series of sharp-pointed 

 processes or soft tendrils, disposed in the manner 

 of the rays in a spur. The whole animal is of a 

 long form, and its habit immediately pronounces 

 it to belong to the genus Sorex, and not to that 

 of Talpa. It seems to have been first described 

 and figured by Mons. de la Faille, in his Memoir 

 on Moles. It is a native of Canada, and resembles 

 the Mole only in some particular parts ; while in 

 others it approaches to the mouse tribe; having 

 the same shape and agility. Its tail, which is three 

 inches long, is knotty, and almost naked, as well as 

 the feet, which have five toes on each, and are co- 

 vered with small brown and white scales on the 

 upper part This animal, according to M. de la 

 Faille (who considers it, in a general view, as a 

 species of Mole), is more above ground, or less 

 addicted to burrowing, than the common Mole. 

 Its body is longish, and covered with black. 



