soEiorLus NiaBEscEJsrs. 59 



Sorex eikmensis, S. homourus, S. oligurus, 8. macrurus, S. holo- 

 sericeus, and another, No. 94, without a specific name, which, in the copy- 

 sent me by that gentleman, is marked on MSS. as S. tenuicauda. All these 

 arc from Darjeeling, but unfortunately skins of few of these appear to have 

 been preserved. Besides those previously alluded to from Ceylon, S. ferm- 

 gineus and S. montanus, Kelaart ; >S'. Kelaarti, Blyth ; (S. purpurascens, 

 Templeton ; and 8. Horsfieldii, Tomes, are on record from Ceylon. Blyth 

 has described 8. fuliginosus and 8. nudipes from Tenasserim, and 8 atra- 

 tus from the Khasia hills, the two latter species being pigmy shrews. The 

 same naturalist has described 8. albinus from China. A shrew from Cen- 

 tral Asia, 8. pulchellus, has been described by Lichtenstein, which is said 

 to have only two intermediate teeth, between the upper incisors and the 

 scissor tooth, and has been made the tjrpe of Diplomesodon, Brandt. Sorex 

 araneus of Europe belongs to this group, and there are many from Africa, 

 some of which are said to have only three intermediate teeth in place of 

 four. 



Gen. SoEicuLus, Blyth. 



Char. — Teeth white, tipped with ferruginous or pitch color; upper 

 quasi-incisors much larger than their posterior spur (as in the last) ; the 

 lower ilicisors with a single posterior spur, more or less rudimental ; of the 

 four lateral intermediate teeth what follow the incisors, the first two equal, 

 the third somewhat smaller, and the fourth minute ; tail, slender, tapering, 

 mouse-like, with no scattered hairs on it; ears concealed amid the fur; 

 hind feet of ordinary form. 



One species only of this group occurs in the Himalayas. 



82. Soriculus nigrescens. 



Corsira apud Gray. — Blyth Cat. — S. sihimensis, Hodgson apud Hokb- 

 FiELD. Cat. — S. aterrimus, Blyth. — 8. soccatus, Hodgson, Cal. Jour. 

 Nat. Hist. IV. 288.— Tang-ehing, 'h&^ah.—Ting-zMng, Bhot. 



The Mouse-tailed Sheew. 



Descr.— Above dark-blackish, or blackish-brown, slightly tinged ru- 

 fescent, and with a silvery cast in certain lights ; beneath grayish-black ; 

 snout long, regularly attenuated, with few lateral hairs ; body abruptly 

 terminated behind; tail slender, rigidly straight, naked, half as long as the 



