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 NOTES AND QUERIES. 



MAMMALIA. 



The Lesser Shrew. — The Lesser Shrew, Sorex minutus, is perhaps 

 the least known of the smaller British quadrupeds. Its wide distribution 

 throughout the British Isles was known to Bell; and Mr. de Winton 

 informs me that he has specimens from England, Scotland, Ireland, and the 

 Hebrides. Dr. Sharif, of Dublin, tells me that 8. minutus is common in 

 Ireland, while araneits is entirely absent. This is an interesting fact, and 

 the perusal of a very interesting paper by him on " The Origin of the Irish 

 Land and Freshwater Fauna," leads one to infer that Sorex minutus was an 

 earlier inhabitant of Britain than araneus, and penetrated into Ireland before 

 the severance of that island from Britain, and before araneus had arrived 

 here. The comparative scarcity of minutus in Britain is also interesting in 

 this connection. Did the larger araneus come over and wage war with its 

 smaller relative, and so diminish its numbers in the same way that Mus 

 decumanus has done with Mus rattus ? So far as my limited experience 

 goes, both Shrews make use of the same runs. — Lionel E. Adams 

 (Northampton). 



Yellow-tailed Squirrels. — I understand that some investigations on the 

 subject of Squirrels' tails becoming yellow or straw-coloured are on foot. 

 Perhaps it may interest those curious in the matter to hear that early in 

 January of this year I observed six Squirrels busily engaged hunting for 

 beech-mast under some beeches near my windows, and that four of them 

 had tails of a more or less yellow hue, the other two being of the ordinary 

 colour. Later on in the spring the tails of most if not all our Squirrels 

 here become yellow or yellowish white. — 0. P. Cambridge (Bloxworth 

 Rectory, Dorset). 



The Editor having shown me this letter of Mr. Cambridge, I may 

 state that, thanks to the kindness of Mr. J. C. Mansel-Pleydell, the British 

 Museum has received a fine series of Squirrels, killed at intervals of a few 

 weeks all through the year, from Whatcombe, near Blandford, Dorset, the 

 same district from which Mr. Cambridge writes. These clearly show that 

 about November the tail grows a new and rich coat of brown or even nearly 

 black hairs, and that these begin to bleach almost at once, passing through 

 all the shades of colour from dark brown, by dull brown, yellowish brown, 

 yellow to yellowish white, or even clear white, so that August and 

 September specimens have normally white tails. But as the bleaching of the 

 hairs goes on most irregularly in different individuals, the four out of six 

 Jauuary specimens mentioned by Mr. Cambridge with tails of a " more or 

 less yellow hue" are perfectly natural and in accordance with what is shown 

 by Mr. Mansel-Pleydell's series. Any specimens presenting a condition 



