598 



THE INSECT-EATING ANIMALS. 



to force, when milder means do not avail. Nearly all 

 seek darkness and shadows and shun drought, heat 

 and light, being so sensitive that sunlight frequently 

 kills them. Their movements are exceedingly rapid 

 and nimble, of whatever character they may be. 

 Shrews which only run, skim along the ground with 



less against strong animals. From our point of 

 view we must consider most of them not only as 

 harmless, inoffensive animals, but acknowledge theni 

 to be highly useful creatures, which render us con- 

 siderable service by exterminating harmful insects. 

 For they seek their food almost exclusively in the 





THE lAHBEC. This animal has its principal home in Madagascar, so famous as the home o£ strange forms of animal life. Its long, 



tailless body and elongated snout are distinguishing features, while its coat which, besides hair, includes bristles like a Hog's and spines like a 

 Hedgehog's, is a noteworthy peculiarity. {Cenietes ecaudatus.) 



the swiftness of an arrow, while the swimmers among 

 them are inferior to none of the other mammals. 



Among the senses of the Shrews that of smell 

 seems to rank first and hearing comes next in effi- 

 ciency, while sight is more or less deficient. Their 

 intellectual capacity is of a low grade; still it can not 

 be denied that they possess a certain amount of rea- 



animal world; insects and their larvae, worms, small 

 birds and mammals, occasionally also fishes and their 

 eggs. Shrimps, etc., constitute their prey. Their vo- 

 racity, is remarkable, and what they devour daily 

 is equal to their own entire weight. No one species 

 can bear hunger except for a short time; therefore 

 they do not hibernate, but prowl over the snow cov- 



THE ALMIQUI. An insectivorous animal living on the Island of Cuba, principally in the high lands. It measures about nineteen 



inches, including the naked tail, which is eight inches long. It has a remarkably long, cylindrical snout, feet well formed for running or digging, 

 and the body is clothed with long coarse hair. {Solenodon cubanus.) 



soning power. They are of a highly predaceous and 

 sanguinary disposition and are really formidable 

 foes to smaller animals, although they usually avoid 

 larger ones. At the slightest noise most species of 

 Shrews will retire into their holes, and they have good 

 reasons for doing so, as they are almost defense- 



ered ground when the weather is in the least propi- 

 tious, or seek their nourishment in protected places, 

 as for instance, in human dwellings. The voice of all 

 species consists of high pitched, chirping, squeaking 

 or piping sounds; terror is signified by plaintive tones, 

 and when in danger they all give forth a more or less 



