SHREWS, MOLES AND BATS 391 



Islands, Madagascar, and Africa we find some of the most curious of 

 these primitive creatures. 



The True Shrews (fam. Soricida) have a much wider range 

 than the rest of the Insect ivors. They are graceful little creatures 

 so like mice in appearance that they are popularly called " Shrew- 

 mice." They have very long heads, long, sharply pointed snouts 

 which project beyond the lower jaw, and small, beady eyes ; the 

 external ear (when present) is rounded and bears some resemblance 

 to the human ear. The little creatures are clothed with fur, usually 

 of the softest velvety texture, and they differ from all other 

 Insectivors in having the first pair of incisor teeth long and sickle- 

 shaped in the Upper jaw, while those in the lower jaw are 

 straight, sometimes curving upwards at the tips. Some genera 

 are distinguished by having the teeth coloured a reddish-brown 

 at the tips, others have ordinary white teeth. Shrew-mice have 

 long, slender tails covered with fine hairs, and the male Shrews 

 (and in some cases the females) have a gland in the side from 

 which an unpleasant, musky odour is given forth, which no doubt 

 is a source of protection to the animals. This scent is most pro- 

 nounced in the large Musk-shrews of India (Crocidura) commonly 

 called " Musk-rats." 



The British species are the Common Shrew-mouse (Sorex vul- 

 garis), abundant in most districts; the Pygmy Shrew-mouse (5. 

 minutus), scarcer in England but more abundant in Ireland ; and 

 the Water Shrew (Crossopus fodiens), unknown in Ireland, but not 

 uncommon in England and the South of Scotland. 



The Common Shrew-mouse is about four inches long from the 

 end of the snout to the tip of its long, square-sided tail. The colour 

 of the fur is usually a reddish-brown, the under parts being paler, 

 but the colour is to a great extent variable and specimens are 

 occasionally banded with white. It feeds chiefly on insects and 

 worms, which it roots up with its pointed, flexible snout, and varies 

 its diet with slugs and snails. It makes its home in woods, under 

 hedgerows and in ditches ; and in such situations in the spring 

 and summer its nest of grass and leaves may be found in a depres- 

 sion in the ground, well concealed under herbage. Litters of from 

 five to seven are usually produced at a time, and the young 

 ones are helpless little creatures, at first quite blind and 

 toothless. 



