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THE ERD SHREW, OR SHREW-MOUSE. 



be mistaken for those of any other animal. Their peculiarities are mostly remarkable 

 in the incisor teeth, which are extremely long ; those of the upper jaw being curved 

 and notched at their base, while those of the lower jaw project almost horizontally. 

 There are no canines, and the molars differ slightly in arrangement, according to the 

 species. In the Erd Shrew the tips of the teeth are tinged with a blood-colored 

 brown. 



The head of the Shrew is rather long, and its apparent length is increased by the long 

 and flexible nose which gives so peculiar an aspect to the animal, and serves to distinguish 

 it at a glance from the common mouse which it so nearly resembles in general shape and 

 color. The object of this elongated nose is supposed to be for the purpose of enabling 

 the animal to root in the ground after the various creatures on which it feeds, or to 

 thrust its head among the densest and closest herbage. Many insects and their larvae are 

 found in such localities, and it is upon such food that the Shrew chiefly subsists. Worms 



are also captured and eaten by 

 the Shrew, which in many of its 

 habits is not unlike the mole. 



The habitation of the Shrew 

 is in certain little subterraneous 

 tunnels, which it excavates in 

 the soil, and which serve as a 

 hunting-ground as well as a 

 home. Like the mole, the Shrew 

 is very impatient of hunger, and 

 cannot endure a protracted fast, 

 although it may not be so inor- 

 dinately voracious as that velvet- 

 coated animal, which it is said 

 will die of hunger if it be kept 

 without food for six hours. It 

 has been suggested, that the 

 many dead Shrews which are 

 found in the autumn owe their 

 deaths to starvation, the worms 

 having descended too deeply into 

 the ground for them to follow, and 

 the insects, being pinched with 

 the cold, having concealed themselves in their wintry hiding-places. 



If this be the case, the curious phenomenon of dead Shrews lying uninjured on the 

 ground will be readily cleared up, although it will not account for the singular fact that 

 the dead animals are not carried off by cat, weasel, or owl. For this portion of the 

 phenomenon another reason must be found ; which probably exists in the rank and 

 powerful scent which saturates the body of the Shrew, and which is sufficiently un- 

 pleasant to deter cats and other animals from eating its flesh. Owls, however, will 

 eat the Shrew, as has been found by examination of the pellets which are ejected by 

 owls and other birds of prey, and which contain the skin, feathers, bones, and other 

 indigestible portions of the creatures on which they prey. Twenty such pellets, or 

 casts, as they are technically termed, were examined for the purpose of ascertaining 

 their component parts, and no less than seven Shrew skeletons were discovered in the 

 debris ! Moles are said to be among the number of the Shrew's enemies, and to make 

 occasional havoc among the pretty little creatures. 



Sometimes the Shrews mutually kill each other, for they are most pugnacious little 

 beings, and on small ground of quarrel enter into persevering and deadly combats ; 

 which, if they took place between larger animals, would be terrifically grand, but in such 

 little creatures appear almost ludicrous. They hold with their rows of bristling teeth 

 with the pertinacity of bull-dogs, and, heedless of everything but the paroxysm of their 

 blind fury, roll over each other on the ground, locked in spiteful embrace, and uttering a 

 rapid succession of shrill cries, which pierce the ears like needles of sound. It is a most 



ERD SHREW, OR SHREW-MOUSE.-Cbrs/ra vulgaris. 



