588 
SMALLER SHREW. 
Blarina parva (Say). 
Sorex parvus Say, Long’s Exped. Rocky Mts., I., 1823, p. 163. 
The geographic range of this species is from Texas and eastern 
Nebraska eastward to the Atlantic. 
Measurements are as follows: Length, 2.95-3.15 in. (75-80 
mm.); tail, .63—.71 in, (16-18 mm.); hind foot, .43 im. (11 mame 
The color of the upper parts is sepia to dark hair-brown; the 
under parts are ash-gray. The tail is bicolor. 
From data at hand one may conclude that the habitat of this 
shrew is as varied as that of the larger species. My specimens were 
taken in my garden in Urbana, in the barren sand area of Mason 
county, and in the till plains of Champaign county. 
The species seems seldom to be abundant, and its habits have 
been little studied. Presumably they are much like those of the 
larger species. 
STAR-NOSED MOLE. 
Condylura cristata (Linnezeus). 
Sorex cristatus Linn., Syst. Nat., I., 1758, p. 53. 
The range of the star-nosed mole is from Hudson Bay to Mani- 
toba on the north, and to Minnesota, northern Illinois, and, in the 
mountains, to South Carolina. 
So far as known it 1s nowhere common in []linois, but is occasion- 
ally found in the northern part of the state. Professor Frank 
smith, of the Department of Zoology of the University of Illinois, 
found a dead specimen in the vicinity of Urbana, and other reliable 
observers have reported it in the county. I have never been able 
to take it in Illinois myself, and there are no specimens in our col- 
lections. It is easily distinguished from the common mole by the 
fringed disk on the end of the nose. 
The color is a dull sooty slate, without the glossy sheen of the 
common species. 
The species is a northern one, and in the southern part of its 
range is found chiefly in cold damp localities. Excepting this pref- 
erence for a moist habitat we know little difference between the 
habits of this species and those of the common mole. 
It is too rare to be of importance economically in this state. 
