THE JUMPING-SHREWS. 



IIS 



colours, which closely approach those of the 

 branches and twigs on which they climb, so 

 that they can easily hide themselves. The 

 claws of their five distinct toes are sharp and 

 curved like those of our squirrels. They 

 hunt by day on trees and on the earth for 

 insects and larvae, and go sniffing all round 

 with their long snout covered with stiff 

 moustache bristles. The eyes are large, and 

 set in a closed orbit; the ears rounded and 

 short. Since they have four abdominal teats, 

 they probably bring forth several young at 

 a birth. Little further is known of their 

 habits, and no living specimens have yet been 

 brought to Europe.^ 



THE JUMPING-SHREWS 



(MACROSCELIDA). 



Like the jerboas, but with a long snout; natives 

 of Africa. 



The disproportion between the hind- and 

 fore-limbs is not quite so great as in the 

 jerboas; the tail is shorter and has no tuft 

 at the end. At a distance, indeed, the little 

 creatures might easily be confounded with 

 jerboas, but when seen close at hand they are 

 at once distinguished by their long and very 

 mobile proboscis, their large ears, which 

 through the development of transverse ribs 

 in the flaps somewhat resemble the ears of 

 certain bats, and by their longer fore- and 

 shorter hind-limbs. The latter are furnished 

 in some species with five, in others with four 

 toes, and have the metatarsal bones very 

 much elongated. 



The hotter the sun the more nimbly do 

 these inhabitants of the torrid deserts of 

 Africa jump about, sniffing under stones in 

 all directions with their long proboscis, and 

 even catching insects flying. At the slightest 

 noise they disappear into holes in the earth, 

 or slink away between stones, and since, as 

 in all inhabitants of the desert, the colour of 



' A specimen was acquired for the Zoological Gardens in London 

 in Jan. 1881.— Tr. 



their soft fur is assimilated to that of the soil, 



Fig. 46.— The Bai, 



they easily escape the eyes of their pursuers. 



Fig. 47.— The Elephant-shrew {Macroscelides typicus). page n6. 



