114 



to her cubs, but as food more to their liking was abundant, they 

 had used the shrews only to play with. 



Dr. A. K. Fisher, in " Hawks and Owls of the United 

 States, " records the finding of short-tailed shrews in the 

 stomachs of the following species of hawks and owls : red- tailed 

 hawk, red-shouldered hawk, broad-winged hawk, sparrow hawk, 

 barn owl, short-eared owl, barred owl, and great horned owl. 

 Shrews of two nearly related species were found in the stomachs 

 of the long-eared owl. 



In the winter of 1898-99, Thomas H. Montgomery, Jr., 

 observed the feeding habits of long-eared owls and short-eared 

 owls at West Chester, Pa. It was ascertained by him that both 

 species feed to a limited extent on shrews of the genus Blarina 



(American Naturalist, Vol. XXXIII, No. 391.) 

 / 



In a bulletin published in 1906 by the Pennsylvania Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture entitled "The Serpents of Pennsylvania, ' ' 

 H. A. Surface, the author, states that shrews have been found 

 by him in the stomachs of the spotted water snake, pilot snake, 

 rattle snake and copperhead. In most cases the shrews were 

 not specifically identified. 



With the clearing up of the country these natural enemies 

 are being thinned out, thus giving the shrews a better oppor- 

 tunity to multiply. This advantage is no doubt . overcome, to 

 some extent at least, by the necessary practices of agriculture, 

 which interfere with the breeding and feeding places of the 

 shrews, and thus tend to decrease their numbers. 

 / 



CONCLUSIONS. 



In the several localities where the short-tailed shrew has 

 been studied, it has proven to be exceedingly abundant and a 

 persistent destroyer of some of the worst pests of the farmer. 

 In all probability it has the faults of robbing the nests of song 

 birds and of devouring certain beneficial insects, but the good 

 that it does in its constant pursuit of injurious insects and 

 mice, far more than compensates for the loss resulting from these 



