INSECT-EATING MAMMALS 73 



appearance of the gorgets in humming-birds. It is, in fact, an 

 exquisite little creature. It breeds between April and August, 

 and produces from five to seven young, occasionally, however, 

 as many as ten. As in the common shrew, the young are blind, 

 naked, and toothless when born, somewhat suggestive of the 

 incompletely finished young of some marsupials. 



The distribution of the lesser shrew in the British Islands 

 is very different from that of the common shrew. It is found 

 abundantly in Ireland and also in the Hebrides and some of the 

 large islands off the west coast of Scotland. In the rest of Scotland 

 and in England it is much less abundant, yet it is more frequently 

 met with in the south of England than in the north. Its fossil 

 remains in Eastern Ireland would appear to date back as far as the 

 beginning of the Pleistocene period. Outside Great Britain the 

 lesser shrew extends its range across Central Europe and Asia 

 to the borders of the North Pacific Ocean, but, unlike the 

 common shrew, it does not reach North America. 



GENUS: CROSSOPUS. AQUATIC SHREWS 

 Crossopus fodiens. THE WATER SHREW 



This genus, though included within the sub-family of the 

 True Shrews, differs from them in several important points. 

 As regards the teeth, there is only one premolar (the fourth) 

 on each side of the upper jaw, otherwise the dentition is fairly 

 similar to that of the common shrew. The ends of the teeth 

 are brownish-red, as in the other shrew-mice, but they "wear" 

 white with age and use. The outer ears are small, and scarcely 

 distinguishable amid the fur. The tail is long, and its under 

 side is fringed with long hairs. There are also fringes of 

 the same kind on the feet. The snout is decidedly shorter 

 and broader than in the common shrew. The eyes are small, 

 and the hind feet are large and adapted for swimming. The 

 opening of the female generative organs, though not actually 

 coalescing with the anus, is situated very close to that opening, 

 and is enclosed with it in a ring of integument. In size the 



