THE SHREWS OR RUNNERS. 



117 



The species represented in fig. 48, called 

 by the Russians the wuychuchol, is specially 

 abundant in the Volga. The animal is ex- 

 tremely expert in swimming and diving, 

 seldom leaves the water, and lives on leeches, 

 snails, and insects and their larvie. Its 

 formidable dentition makes me surmise that 

 it also attacks fish. The soft velvety fur, re- 

 sembling that of the moles but distinguished 

 by having a number of bristly hairs sparsely 

 scattered amongst it, is used as a trimming 

 for caps. The animal prefers ponds and 

 pools, and slowly running waters, and is 

 generally to be found at those parts where 

 there are loamy or clayey banks, in which it 

 can dig out its subterranean dwelling. This 

 consists of a chamber led up to by an obliquely 

 ascending tunnel, the entrance to which is 

 placed so deep below the surface of the water 

 that it does not get frozen up even in the 

 hardest Russian winters. The passage is 

 carefully smoothed internally, and rises so 

 much that the chamber to which it leads is 

 never submerged even by the highest floods. 

 Since the animal has been accidentally caught 

 in fishing-nets by night as well as by day, in 

 summer as well as in winter, it is probable 

 that it has no particular sleeping time, but like 

 the mole rests in its chamber for some hours 

 after every hunting foray to allow time for 

 digestion. The creature seizes its prey with its 

 snout as with a finger, and then pushes it into 

 its mouth. The stench diffused by the scent- 

 glands under the tail communicates itself even 

 to the flesh of pikes by which a wuychuchol has 

 been devoured, and thus renders it uneatable. 



THE SHREWS OR RUNNERS 



(SORICIDA). 



This typical group is composed of the Shrews, the form 

 of whose body is like that of mice, from which, how- 

 ever, they are distinguished even externally by the 

 possession of a sharp proboscis and a mostly short 

 naked tail. 



They may justly be called runners, for 

 they run along quickly, and climb like mice, 



with which also they agree in their nocturnal 

 habits. This unfortunate resemblance is very 

 prejudicial to the little creatures. Men, cats, 

 and owls destroy them without mercy, but 

 they are eaten only by the birds, whose senses 

 are not very acute. Cats bite them dead, but 

 leave them lying, apparently because of their 

 strong musky odour, proceeding from two 

 glands which open at the sides about the 

 middle of the back. 



The shrews form a group very rich in 

 genera and species, which are distributed 

 over the whole world except South America, 

 Australia and the islands connected with it. 



A conical head, pointed very mobile snout 

 or proboscis with stiff tactile hairs, small eyes, 

 short, scarcely projecting ears, small five-toed 

 feet with sharp claws, and a tail inferior in 

 length to that of mice, and covered only with 

 a few thinly scattered hairs, sometimes even 

 scaly — such are the essential characters of the 

 shrews. The total number of the teeth varies 

 from 28 to 32, but the general character of 

 the dentition remains the same. The teeth 

 are so closely set that they sometimes seem 

 to be fused together. A very large recurved 

 incisor with a heel or process behind takes 

 up the greater part of each half of the pre- 

 maxilla. Behind this fang there are on each 

 side three, four, or even five teeth mostly 

 similar in form and size. The first of these 

 teeth is generally also to be regarded as an 

 incisor, because it stands in the premaxilla, 

 while those coming after are premolars, after 

 which there follow, for the most part, four 

 three-cusped true molars. The lower incisors 

 are also very large, but are placed horizontally, 

 and are curved upwards at the end. In some 

 the tubercles of the teeth are of a light 

 brownish-red colour, in others perfectly white. 



The shrews are cruel animals, even against 

 their own kind, and are never found together 

 except at the pairing season. At other times 

 they live a hermit's life, concealing themselves 

 by day in dark holes, and carrying on their 

 hunt by night, uttering, meanwhile, sharp 



