Cleaves: The Least Shrew in Captivity 119 



After several minutes of this incessant work tlie worm would 

 finally be dragged under the cotton, when the feast would begin. 



In order to watch the meal progress it was necessary to gently 

 lift the cotton so as not to disturb the diner. Without going 

 through the formality of killing the victim, the shrew would begin 

 at once to gnaw away at the head. To any creature having a more 

 highly developed nervous system than the earthworm this would 

 undoubtedly have been a most painful proceeding. And it must 

 have been a tedious task, for at the end of five minutes only about 

 a quarter of an inch had been consumed, and yet the shrew ate 

 five worms in a rather short time, supposedly in a night. 



The only sound that I heard come from the prisoner was an 

 almost inaudible " piff, piff," uttered very rapidly (almost ex- 

 plosively) while he was eating. 



My chief regret is that he did not survive long enough to be 

 photographed. 



