66 THE BRITISH MAMMALS : THEIR GENERA AND SPECIES. 



19. minutus, LESSER SHREW. Under two inches and a half in 

 length exclusive of tail ; third upper incisor longer 

 than adjoining tooth. 



The teeth of the Shrews, minute as they are, afford the best 

 means of identification. To begin with, they are tipped with 

 reddish brown, and the front pair in each jaw are longer than the 

 others, and point forwards, those in the upper series being curved. 

 In each half of the upper jaw there are ten teeth, and in the lower 

 there are only six or seven, but opinions differ as to how 

 they should be named. All agree that there are three molars 

 in each jaw, and three premolars in the upper jaw and one 

 in the lower ; but the other upper four teeth are classed by 

 some as incisors, and by some as three incisors and a canine, 

 the lower jaw having two or three incisors only, the canine 

 being absent. Whatever the upper fourth tooth may be, it is very 

 useful for distinguishing between the two British examples, the 

 smaller species having it clearly shorter than the tooth alongside. 

 Both Shrews have long, narrow, pointed snouts, small, rounded 

 ears, that only just project above the fur, and hairy tails that are 

 shorter than the head and body, rather square in section, and about 

 the same thickness for most of their length. 



The Common Shrew is fulvous grey above, paler below. Its 

 head and body measure about three inches, the tail beinghalf as long. 

 It is nocturnal in habit, and feeds on worms and snails, as well as 



COMMON SHREW. 

 (Sorex vulgar is.) 



insects. The young, from five to ten in a litter, are born in a neat 

 covered nest, with the entrance at the side. The species is found 

 all round the northern hemisphere, except in Ireland and the 

 Hebrides. 



The Lesser Shrew is proportionately shorter in the fore limbs, 

 besides being smaller in size, the head and body never exceeding 

 two inches in length, the tail being an inch and a quarter. This is 

 for a full-sized female, the male being smaller still. In fact, the 

 Lesser Shrew is the smallest British mammal ; the largest, Sibbald's 

 Rorqual, being some three hundred and fifty times as long. In 

 colour,, it is rather darker than. the. common species. It. ranges 



