142 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Parascalops breweri (Bachman) Eastern hah y -tailed mole 



1844 Scalops breweri Bachman, Boston jour. nat. hist. 4: 32. ("Island 

 of Marthas Vineyard, Mass." This doubtless an error.) 



1895 Parascalops breweri True, Science, n. s. 25 Jan. 1895. 1: 101. 



1896 Parascalops breweri True, Proc. U. S. national museum. 19: 68. 

 Dark lead-gray, seldom if ever tinged with rusty ; tail dark. Total length, 



147 (5t5) ; tail vertebrae, 30 (li%) ; hind foot, 19 (|). (breweri; name from 

 that of Thomas Mayo Brewer) 



The eastern hairy- tailed mole inhabits dry soil in the boreal and 

 transition zones of the eastern United States and southern Canada. 



Family Soricidae Shrews 



Body usually slender and mouse-like, with a distinct neck; eyes well devel- 

 oped but very small; a disiinct exiernal ear; front feet small, not specially 

 modified; fur only moderately soft and dense. (Soric i dae ; from genus IS or ex) 



The range of the family Soricidae is essentially the same as that 

 of the order I n se c t i V or a. 10 or more genera are known, three of 

 which occur in North America. Two of these are found within our limits. 

 Shrews are small animals much like mice in general appearance but 

 readily distinguishable by their pointed snouts and small eyes. 



GENERA OF SORICIDAE 



Ears completely hidden by the fur ; tail scarcely longer than head. . B 1 a r i n a 

 Ears distinctly visible; tail much longer than head Sorex 



Genus Blarina Gray 



1838 Blarina Gray, Proc. zool. soc. London. (1837) p. 124. Tyj)e Sorex 

 talpoides Gapper=S . brevicaudus Say. 



Ears very small, completely hidden by the fnr; body stout, somewhat mcle- 

 like : tail scarady longer than head. (Blarina; a coined word) 



The genus Blarina is peculiar to America. All but one of the 23 

 known forms are North American or Central American. The exception, 

 B. thomasi Merriam, is the only known South American mem- 

 ber of the order Insectivora. Two species only are found within 

 our hmits. 



SPECIES OP BLARINA 



Teeth 32; total length about 120 (4|) (subgenus B 1 ari n a ). . B. brevicauda 

 Teeth 30; total length about 75 (3) (subgenus Cryptotis).... B. parva 



Blarina brevicauda (Say) Zarge blarina 



1823 Sorex brevicaudus Say, Long's exped. to the Rocky mts. 1:164. 



(Near Blair Neb.) 

 1857 Blarina brevicauda Baird, Mamm. N. Am. p. 42. 



