Mammals from the inner Hebrides. 93o 



annual, each generation surviving about eighteen months. Thus, 

 according to this hypothesis : — 



In spring and early summer of year x there are present adults of 

 year x-\ and young of year x being produced. 



In late summer and autumn of year x there are present young 

 adults of year x and adults of year x-l dying off. 



In winter of years ^' x-\-\ there are only adults of year x 



generation. 



The abundant data in support of tliis view need not be recapitu- 

 lated, suffice it to say that all winter specimens were found to be 

 indistinguishable in point of age, and that no really aged specimen 

 had hitherto been examined. This theory was extended to 

 embrace many other European shrew forms. No. 12, hov/ever, 

 is undoubtedly above normal oge ; the teeth are almost com- 

 pletely worn away, the dorsal black and the ventral silver coats 

 are grizzled. No specimen like it is in the British Museum 

 collection, nor has one been recorded. It should be noted that 

 the proportion (l/29th) of examined S. ,a,,,grantii specimens 

 that this individual represents does not encourage the view that 

 there is a tendency to longevity in the subspecies, but causes 

 one to regard its occurrence as being as exceptional as in 

 S. a. casteneus. 



In reducing the status of this form to a subspecific one the 

 Avriter is following the method of Barrett-Hamilton and Hinton, 

 who, on p. 432 of (2), write : "' This mouse (3£. a. macgillivraii) 

 might well be called a species were it not that the subspecific 

 name indicates its relationships." From this point of view specific 

 status was, in the first place, incongruous for the Islay shrew, 

 and the necessity for systematising it as a subspecies of S. araneus 

 has been enhanced by the description of the shrews from Jura 

 and Gigha, the characters of which emphasize the relationships 

 of the Islay form. It should be added that this view is accept- 

 able to M. A. C. Hinton. 



SoREX MiNUTUS MiNUTUS LinuEeus. 



Material examined and Dimensions. One adult ( $ ) collected 

 by Montagu in June 1922 in Jura. 



HB. T. HF. 



17. Adult ?, 23.6.22 59 38* 11 



Avevageof sixteen adults from the Inner Hebrides (1) 55'5 3o'4 lO'l 



* Tail damaged in trap. 



Desc7'iption. This shrew has now been reported in the Hebrides 

 from Lewis, N . TJist, Benbecula, S. Uist, Barra ; Skye, Sanday , 

 Eigg ; Coll, Tiree ; Islay, Jura, Gigha ; Great Cumbrae, Arran, 

 Bute. It had not hitherto been reported from Jura. The 

 present specimen, it shovild be noted, is noticeably large in all 

 dimensions. 



pRoc. ZooL. Soc.~1922, No. LXIII. 63 



