78 Lloyd's natural history. 



i 



small Mammals, or other secure nooks, where they pass the 

 cold months in a state of profound torpor. Although their 

 chief food consists of worms, insects, and grubs, they also con- 

 sume many of the smaller slugs and snails, while Jesse states 

 that they will occasionally kill and eat young frogs. In the 

 spring the female Shrew (perhaps with the aid of her mate) 

 constructs of grass, leaves, and other herbage, a dome-shaped 

 nest, with an entrance on one side, which is generally placed 

 in a hedge-bank or some hollow in the grass. Here in due 

 course she usually brings forth from five to seven naked and 

 blind young, although occasionally there may be as many as 

 ten in a litter. The breeding-season extends from the end of 

 April to early in August. In disposition the Shrew is one of 

 the most combative and pugnacious of animals ; and many 

 fights, probably between rival males, terminate fatally ; while, 

 if two or more of these animals be confined in a cage or box, 

 they invariably fight to the bitter end. 



It might be supposed that to such combats are due the 

 number of dead Shrews so often encountered in autumn, 

 although it is pretty evident that their death is due to some 

 other cause. It has been suggested that Owls and Cats, which 

 are supposed to kill, but not to eat. Shrews, are the cause of the 

 destruction ; but it is now ascertained that Shrews are eaten 

 by the former, while from the situation in which their bodies 

 are frequently found, it is scarcely likely that Cats are 

 the murderers. In addition to those destroyed by Owls, it is 

 said that a certain number of Shrews fall victims to the 

 voracity of their cousin the Mole. 



Perfectly harmless to man, both as regards his person, his 

 cattle, and his crops, the Shrew was long the victim of a 

 curious superstition, as is illustrated in a well-known passage 

 from the writings of Gilbert White, which will bear one more 

 repetition. Writing of his native village of Selborne, this 



