200 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
by their long, flexible, trunk-like noses, be- 
whiskered noses, minute eyes and ears, and 
red-pointed teeth, which, of course, are not in 
the least like those of a mouse. As I have 
written elsewhere: 
‘* All the shrews are ceaselessly active, wandering 
about underneath leaves, old grass, and logs, and bor- 
ing their way into loose loam or the punky wood of 
decayed stumps, in search of earthworms, grubs, 
beetles, slugs, and similar prey, including young mice 
and the fledglings of ground-nesting birds, and vary- 
ing this fare by bites from soft-shelled beechnuts, 
tuberous roots, ete: They are astonishingly quick of 
hearing; are bold, pugnacious, and fierce, often kill- 
ing and eating other shrews; difficult to keep alive 
in captivity, utterly untamable, and easily frightened 
to death. All kinds exhale from glands near their 
armpits a musky odor which no doubt is protective, 
since most Hawks, cats, foxes, etc., do not eat them 
unless excessively hungry;. but owls and weasels ap- 
pear to be well pleased with such flavors, and catch 
and devour them in large numbers.’’ 
We have a large number of shrews, some of 
which are aquatic, and the variety of color and 
size is considerable. Cuba and Hayti each 
also possesses a large sort of insectivore, called 
almiqui and looking like a shrew as big as a rat. 
