192 MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 



Sciences, Phila., 1894, p. 395 : "It is with no small satisfaction that I an- 

 nounce the discovery of a member of this subgenus \_Neosorex\ in Pennsyl- 

 vania. One specimen was taken along the banks of a rocky stream flowing 

 into the Big Bushkill, in Monroe county. It is the most southerly record for 

 the subgenus, the previous southern record being Warwick, Massachusetts. 

 After going over the ground somewhat, it appears proper to endorse the veri- 

 fication of Mr. G. S. Miller, Jr., in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History, in giving this shrew the name applied to New England ex- 

 amples by Prof. Cope, in 1862. Specimens from Lac Aux Sables, Quebec, 

 and from Lincoln, Maine, agree better in the brownish cast of lower parts 

 with Prof. Cope's diagnosis of albibarbis as contrasted with the ' ash-colored' 

 belly of 5. palustris given by Richardson in the Fauna Boreali Americana. 

 In the Monroe county specimen, though identical in dentition and propor- 

 tionate measurements with my Canadian specimens, the colors are much as 

 in Richardson's diagnosis oi palustris, showing that the brown belly character 

 is inconstent in eastern specimens. It is probable, however, that the excep- 

 tions are in immature pelage. For a full discussion of these questions, see 

 paper by Mr. G. S. Miller, Jr.," above referred to, vol. 26. — Rhoads. 



Habits, etc. — I can find no satisfactory references to the habits of this ani- 

 mal. From its structure and the nature of the localities it frequents) it must 

 be the most aquatic of our eastern shrews, confining its wanderings closely to 

 watercourses and lakes. 



Description of species. — In size about equal to large specimens of the mole 

 shrew, Blarina brevicanda ; nearly 10 times that of the small species of Sorex 

 above treated. It is immediately distinguished from any American species 

 of Blarina or typical Sorex by the large, relative size of the feet, the hind 

 foot being very long, broad, bordered by a rim of stiff bristles and slightly 

 webbed, all these characters adapting it to more aquatic life as contrasted 

 with our other shrews. The tail is nearly as long as head and body and in 

 most respects similar to that of Sorex. Color above blackish slate, sparingly 

 mixed with light-tipped hairs, chin whitish or grayish, rest of under parts 

 heavily clouded with dusky. Tail bicolor, blackish above, whitish below. 

 The above is Merriam's description of eastern specimens supposed to be 

 typical. Compare this with my remarks on the Pa. specimen above quoted. 

 As the evidence in hand points to only a racial or subspecific difference be- 

 tween palustris of Minnesota and Alberta and the New England albibarbis I 

 have so indicated it at the head of this article. 



Genus Blarina Gray, Proceedings Zoological Society, London, 1838, p. 124. 



North Eastern Mole Shrew; Large bob-tail Shrew, f Blarina 

 brevicanda (Say). 



