96 



as to show no opening or appearance of a concavity of auricle. Tail 

 short; scarcely or not as long as the head; haired, with a small terminal 

 pencil. Fore feet broad, palms naked, claws enlarged. Body stout ; the 

 species ranging from the largest to the smallest of American Shrews. 



In the Bub-genus Soriciscm occur most of the species, and among them 

 the smallest Shrews in America. Soret parva, Say, the type species, and 

 Blarina exilipes, Baird, extend north to the Ohio, and possibly may occur 

 in Ohio. 



Blarina (Blarina) bheVicauda Baird. 



SnORT-TAILED ShRKW. 



1823. Sorex brevicauda, Say, Long's Expd., i, 1823, 164.— Harlan, Faun. 

 Amer., 1825, 29.— Bichman, J. A. N. Sc. Ph., vii, 1837, 381.— 

 Aud. & B~ach., Quad. N. A., iii, 1854, 335. 



1836. Sorex talpoides, Gapper, Zool. Jour., v, June, 1830, 208. 



1837. Sorex dekayi, Bach., J. A. N. Sc. Ph., viii, 1837, 377.— Aud, & Bach., 



Q. N. A., iii, 1853, 246 (original description). 



1857. Blarina talpoides, Baird, Mam. N. A., 1867, 37. 



1857. Blarina brevicauda, Baird, Mam. N. A., 1857, 42. 



1877. Blarina (subg. Blarina') brevicauda, Coues, Precursory Notes on 

 American Insectivorous Mammals.— Jordan, Manual of Verte- 

 brates, 1876, p. 26, 2d ed., 1878, 352 (addenda). 



Description of Species.— Size large ; 3|- to 4 inches from nose to root of 

 tail; tail 1 inch; tail to end of hair 1^ inches; hind foot fV ; extent of 

 snout beyond teeth jj. Form compact, with the head broad and massive. 

 Tail short, about as long as the head, cylindrical, slightly depressed, naked 

 at root, fl^esh-colored, thinly clothed with short, brownish-drab hairs, ter- 

 minated by a pencil. Far dense and soft, plumbeous at the base, tipped 

 with glossy leaden-brown on the back, and lighter on the belly. Teeth 

 tipped with brown, becoming glossy dark-brown at the points of the in- 

 cisors. The snout is flesh-color, the lobes brown. The minute black eye 

 is visible in life, the opening through the skin being the size of a small 

 pin-hole. The auricle is directed entirely forward, and fits exactly against 

 the opening of the ear ; on lifting it the other parts are seen well devel- 

 oped. The hands are as wide or wider than the feet ; palms and soles 

 naked and sextuberculate. 



Qeographical Distribution.-— Range great — from eastern Nova Scotia to 

 Lake Superior, and west to Nebraska ; southward, through Pennsylvania, 

 to Columbus, Georgia. South of Pennsylvania it is replaced by the 

 smaller B. carolinensis, if, indeed, the two species are not identical, in 

 which case its southern range is extended from South Carolina to Missouri. 



