THE WATER SHREW 



137 



supposed species, the Oared Shrew, 5'. remifer of Isidore 

 Geoffrey, with the result that in the works of many British 

 writers, such as Bingley, Bell (first edition), MacGillivray, and 

 others, England was for long reputed to possess two species of 

 Water Shrew, the Common or S. fodiens and the Oared, being 

 either Sowerby's or Geoffroy's species. Other writers, such as 

 Donovan and Fleming, never divided the species, and the 

 matter remained for long unsettled. The Oared Shrew was 

 finally removed from the British list by R. F. Tomes, who in 

 Bell's second edition showed that both the names ciliatus and 

 remifer were applied to dark forms of S. fodiens. And here 

 the matter rested until I pointed out that British specimens 

 are on the average duskier than those from the Continent, and 

 therefore represent a sub-species to which Sowerby's name is 

 applicable. 



There is, perhaps, no British mammal whose manners so 

 easily lend themselves to observation as the Water Shrew. 

 Either because it pursues its business with a complete intent- 

 ness and abstraction from other affairs, or because, as is more 

 likely, since its eyes are very inconspicuous and lie almost 

 buried in its fur, the sphere of its vision is very limited, it may 

 be approached somewhat easily and by a quiet observer is not 

 easily put to flight. Its ordinary occupations and appearance 

 have therefore been frequently described. It was fairly well 

 figured by Bingley and by Donovan, particularly by the former ; 

 and its mode of life was not inaccurately epitomised in their 

 respective works, but J. F. M. Dovaston^ is usually credited 

 with having written the first detailed description of its habits. 

 During the spring of 1825, Dovaston observed it repeatedly. 

 Its manner was to glide "from the bank, under water, and 

 bury itself in the mass of leaves at the bottom. ... It very 

 shortly returned, and entered the bank, occasionally putting its 

 long sharp nose out of the water, and paddling close to the 

 edge. This it repeated at very frequent intervals, from place to 

 place, seldom going more than two yards from the side, and 

 always returning in about half a minute. . . . Sometimes it 

 would run a little on the surface, and sometimes timidly and 

 hastily come ashore, but with the greatest caution, and instantly 



" Loudon's Mag. Nat. Hist, ii., 219, 1829. 

 VOL. IL ' K 



