414. Fretp Museum or Natura. History — ZoéLocy, Vou. XI. 
The food of these Shrews consists largely of worms and insects, but 
they also eat flesh and probably devour young Mice and the young 
of the smaller ground-nesting birds whenever they find them. Dr. C. 
Hart Merriam says: ‘‘ Not only are these agile and restless little Shrews 
voracious and almost insatiable, consuming incredible quantities of 
raw meat and insects with great eagerness, but they are veritable 
cannibals withal, and will even slay and devour their own kind. I 
once confined three of them under an ordinary tumbler. Almost im- 
mediately they commenced fighting, and in a few minutes one was 
slaughtered and eaten by the other two. Before night one of these 
killed and ate its only surviving companion, and its abdomen was 
much distended by the meal. Hence in less than eight hours one of 
these tiny wild beasts had attacked, overcome, and ravenously con- 
sumed two of its own species, each as large and heavy asitself” (J. ¢., 
p. 174). 
Shrews possess scent glands, secreting a strong, musky smelling 
liquid, which are situated on each side of the body near the foreleg. On 
account of their odor they are regarded as undesirable food by most 
mammals and are rarely eaten. 
Specimens examined from Illinois and Wisconsin: 
Illinois — Fox Lake, 3; Camp Logan, Lake Co., 8=11. 
Wisconsin — Sumner, 2; Milton, Rock Co., 1; Solon Springs, Douglas 
Co., 13 (7 in alcohol); Sayner, Vilas Co., 17; Spread Eagle, Florence 
Co., 3; Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., 1; Conover, Vilas Co., 1; Lac 
Vieux Desert, Vilas Co., 5; (M.P.M.) Cataline, Marinette Co., 4; 
Newport, Door Co., 1; Prairie du Sac, Sauk Co., 4; Prescott, Pierce 
Co., 4; Kelly Brook, Oconto Co., 2; Milwaukee Co., 1; Delavan, 
Walworth Co., 1; (S. C.) Beaver Dam, Dodge Co., 20= 80. 
Sorex richardsonii BacumMan. 
RICHARDSON’S SHREW. 
Sorex richardsonit BACHMAN, Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., VII, Pt. II, 1837, p. 383+ 
Mitter, N. Amer. Fauna, No. 10, 1895, p. 48 (Minnesota). Merriam, N. 
Amer. Fauna, No. 10, 1895, p. 63 (Minnesota, etc.). SNYDER, Bull. Wis. Nat. 
Hist. Soc., II, 1902, p. 123 (Wisconsin). Jackson, Bull. Wis. Nat. Hist. Soc., 
VI, 1908, p. 30 (Wisconsin). 
Type locality — Unknown; probably plains of Saskatchewan, Canada. 
Distribution — From Wisconsin and western Ontario through Minne- 
sota and Manitoba northwest to Alberta and northward nearly to 
the Arctic Circle; exact limits unknown. 
