LESSER SHREW 



inches, and although it is absent from Ireland, it is well 

 distributed in England and Scotland. It pairs in the 

 early Spring, producing from five to eight young later 

 in the year, these being secured in a cosy nest, which, 

 as a rule, is placed in a depression in the ground. It 

 may hibernate through the Winter, but is soon tempted 

 from its retreat when the return of the birds from the 

 sunny South presages the glad days of Spring. Its 

 presence may soon be detected by the constant utterance 

 of a weak, but by no means unpleasant, stridulous noise 

 which is made as the little creature threads its dapper 

 body through the rank grass. Several of our companions 

 fail to catch the Shrew's contribution to Nature's choir, 

 their ears not being alert to such sounds, but once 

 heard and identified, there is little fear of it being 

 forgotten. 



Lesser Shrew. — We are of opinion that this species, 

 the smallest mammal in Europe, is commoner than 

 is generally supposed. Unlike the Common Shrew, 

 the Pygmy Shrew, as it is also called, occurs in Ireland. 

 It is, as its name impHes, smaller than its relative, and 

 on several occasions of late we have discovered 

 specimens where they were previously unrecorded 

 As a matter of fact, we were the first to add the Lesser 

 Shrew to the Hertfordshire list. In addition to the 

 inferior size, this, the second member of the genus Sorex, 

 is to be distinguished by its teeth, which are almost of 

 microscopic size, and by the third tooth from the outer 

 margin of the top jaw being the same length as the 



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