24 MAMMALIAN GALLERY. 



Order III. INSECTIVORA. 



(Case 27.) 



The small Order known as the Insectivora, or Insect-eaters, is a 

 group of which our common English Hedgehog, Shrew, and Mole 

 are typical examples. The members of it are small animals, of 

 dull and inconspicuous coloration, gaining their living either by 

 burrowing in the ground for worms and larvae, by hunting for beetles 

 and other insects in the grass and underwood, or, more rarely, by 

 climbing among trees after their prey. By far the greater portion 

 are purely animal-feeders. Their voracity is extraordinary, in- 

 stances being recorded, both of Moles and Shrews, in which two indi- 

 viduals kept in the same cage have attacked each other, the victor 

 eating the whole of its opponent, leaving the skin only. A fast of 

 only three or four hours is fatal to most of them ; so that the 

 total number of worms and insects destroyed by the members of 

 this Order must be enormous. The range of the Insectivora 

 extends over the whole world, with the exception of South America 

 and Australia. 



They are divided into the following families : 



The Tupaiidce, or Tree-Shrews of India and Malaysia, so like 



Fig-. 9. 



The Tupaia (T'upaia tana). 



Squirrels both in appearance and habits as to be easily mistaken 

 for them. They feed on various insects, and also to a small extent 



