198 FAMILY SORECID^E. SHREWS. 



Among the most curious are the Chrysochloris* or Cape Mole, 

 which is distinguished by the splendid colours of its fur, and is 

 the only known Quadruped, which exhibits anything like the 

 metallic lustre that adorns numerous birds, fishes, and insects : 

 and the Condylura, a Mole-like animal of North America, 

 which has the termination of the nostrils surrounded by mov- 

 able cartilaginous points, that radiate like a star when expanded. 

 The use of this curious apparatus is unknown. 



177. Of the family SORECIOE, the common Sorex. or Shrew, 

 of this country may be taken as the type. This is a small ani- 

 mal, covered with a velvetty fur, and having much of the general 



form and aspect of the mouse ; in- 

 deed it is commonly known by the 

 name of Shrew-mouse, and believed 

 to be nearly allied to that little ani- 

 mal. The Shrews may be easily 

 distinguished, however, by their long 

 taper movable snout ; their eyes, 



FIG 99.-SHREW. too > are verv minute > and alm st 



hidden in the surrounding hairs ; 



and their ears are small and close. The body exhales a 

 musky odour, which renders them distasteful to cats, though 

 these will readily destroy them ; but it does not seem to be 

 disliked by weasels, hawks, and owls, which destroy these 

 little nocturnal Insectivora in great numbers. They 

 are common in hedge-rows, thickets, gardens, &c. ; and make 

 long superficial burrows, or runs, in banks, and among the 

 roots of trees or brushwood ; the female makes a sort of nest 

 of soft herbage, with an aperture at the side. They feed upon 

 worms, insects, &c. ; after which they grub with their pointed 

 snout, turning up the loose soil, or making their way through 

 the close herbage ; and they show much of the voraciousness and 

 pugnacity of the Mole. Besides the common Shrew, two other 

 species, the Water Shrew, and the Oared Shrew, inhabit this 

 country ; the habits of both are aquatic, as their names import, 

 their burrows being formed in the banks of streams, and their 

 food consisting of aquatic insects and larvae, in pursuit of which 



