CROCIDURA. 



235 



Dimensions. A large male from Nepal measured from snout to 

 vent 5"o inches, tail 3*-l:, height of ear from orifice 0*38, hind foot 

 from heel (claws not included) OO. In a large female from Dar- 

 jiling the corresponding dimensions were 5*3, 3*2, 0-43, and 0*78. 

 In a smaller, perfectly adult, female from Mari (Punjab) the mea- 

 surements were 4, 2-7, 0*4, and 0*72. AVith this and ocher species, 

 it must be borne in mind, as ali'eadj mentioned in the description 

 of the genus, that immature specimens cannot be distinguished by 

 their external characters. 



Varieties. The common Himalayan form {S. r/riffithi, HorsP., 

 and >S. sataratior, Hodgson) is deep brown in colour, with longer 

 and thicker hair than the form occurring in the plains of India. 

 The latter is often lighter brown in colour (Sorcx' ti/tleri, Blyth, 

 and Crocidura blunfordi, Anderson), but the deep rich brown variety 



Fig. 66. — Upper incisoi's, canines, and premolars of Crocidura miirlna, var. 

 montana, from below. (Dobson, Mon. Ins., unpublished.) 



is prevalent in Burma and the Malay countries and may be con- 

 sidered typical ; the most important of the other varieties is 

 the dark ashy grey type {Sorex serpentarias, S. Tcandiamis, &c.), 

 often with brown or ferruginous tips to the fur (S. ferntr/ineiis). 

 A blackish-brown variety has been named S. niger. It is possible 

 that some of the names quoted above as synonyms of C. nmrina 

 should have been referred to the ne.Kt species, O. cceruha ; but the 

 latter is doubtfully distinct, and there can be no question that 

 intermediate forms (probably hybrids) are met with. The type of 

 S. nemorivcKjas, Hodgson, is an immature specimen. I doubt the 

 distinctness of the small Ceylon shrew called O. montana by 

 Anderson, and I am not convinced that it is the same form as 

 Sonw moatamis of Kelaart. 



D stribut'on. Probably throughout the whole of India, Ceylon, 

 Burma, and the Oriental liegion generally; certainly throughout 

 the Himalayas from Kashmir to Assam, up to an elevation of 7000 

 or 8000 feet, and in many parts of the Indian ])eninsula and 

 Burma. Specimens are recorded from Calcutta, Ajmere, Ivhan- 

 dula near Bombay, Malabar, and Madras, also from Ceylon, Assam, 

 the Khasi hills, xirakan, and Tenasserim, besides many parts of the 

 Malay peninsida and archipelago, and from China. 



