THE WATER SHREW. 139 



That little animal the water shrew (sorex fodiens) 

 appears to be but partially known, but is probably 

 more generally diffused than we imagine. The com- 

 mon shrew in particular seasons gambols through 

 our hedgerows, squeaking and rustling about the 

 dry foliage, and is observed by every one ; but the 

 water shrew inhabits places that secrete it from ge- 

 neral notice, and appears to move only in the even- 

 ings, which occasions it being so seldom observed. 

 That this creature was an occasional resident in our 

 neighbourhood, was manifest from the dead bodies 

 of two or three having occurred in my walks ; but 

 it was some time before I discovered a little colony 

 of them quietly settled in one of my ponds, over- 

 shadowed with bushes and foliage. It is very amus- 

 ing to observe the actions of these creatures, all life 

 and animation in an element they could not be 

 thought any way calculated for enjoying; but they 

 swim admirably, frolicking over the floating leaves 

 of the pondweed, and up the foliage of the flags, 

 which, bending with their weight, will at times 

 souse them in the pool, and away they scramble to 

 another, searching apparently for the insects that 

 frequent such places, and feeding on drowned moths 

 (phalcena potamogeta) and similar insects. They 

 run along the margin of the water, rooting amid 

 the leaves and mud with their long noses for food, 

 like little ducks, with great earnestness and persever- 

 ance. Their power of vision seems limited to a 

 confined circumference. The smallness of their eyes, 

 and the growth of the fur about them, are conve- 



