154 



MOLES AND SHREWS 



slope. The Star-Nosed Mole, of the northeastern United 

 States and Canada, is quickly recognized by the remarkable 

 star-like appendage of eighteen ray-like points, with four 

 more between them, on the end of its nose. 



THE SHREW FAMILY 



Soricidae 



North of Mexico, this Family contains about thirty-five 

 full species, distributed throughout nearly every portion of 



North America south 

 of a line drawn from 

 the mouth of the Mac- 

 kenzie River to Labra- 

 dor. With most cheer- 

 ful indiflFerence, they 

 inhabit mountains, 

 plains, swamp-lands 

 and sandy seacoasts, 

 hot countries and cold. 

 Everywhere, however, their noses are long and sharp, their 

 eyes and ears minute, and the colors of all species are very 

 sober, ranging from dull gray to brown, and ending in black. 

 There are two species which are so widely distributed they 

 may well be taken as types of the entire thirty-five. 



The Common Shrew^ is found on the Atlantic coast, 

 from New England northwestward to Alaska, and southward 

 through the Appalachian Mountains to Tennessee and North 

 Carolina. Its color is brown above, and dull gray under- 



* So'rex per-son-a'tus. 



COMMON SHREW. 



SHORT-TAILED SHREW. 



