( 185 ) 

 NOTES AND QUERIES, 



MAMMALIA. 



The Oared Shrew in Staffordshire. — In June, 1889, a female 

 specimen of the so-called Oared Shrew, Crossopus remifer, was brought to 

 me for identification, and was presented to me. It had evidently had 

 a litter of young, as the mamma?, eight in number (four on either side), 

 were very prominent. The fur on the entire upper portion of the animal 

 is of the colour of a Mole, the throat and under parts grey. The following 

 note accompanied the specimen : — " Captured by one of the haymakers in 

 a field just below Harborne Vicarage, June 27th, 1889. Unfortunately, it 

 did not occur to the man in question to search for probable nest whilst 

 immediately following the mowers." I have hitherto regarded the distin- 

 guishing characteristics between C.fodiens and C. remifer as a brownish 

 black upper fur, almost pure white throat and under parts, with the line of 

 demarcation very distinct, and a white spot to indicate the position of the 

 ears in C.fodiens. In C. remifer the body is of a stouter build, the fur of 

 the upper parts is dark greyish black, which gradually merges into the 

 grey throat and under parts. There is no white spot to indicate the 

 position of the ears, but these are slightly fringed with grey. The fur on 

 the abdomen has a slightly yellow tinge, but my specimen was rather 

 tainted when I received it, and the fur "slipped" on these parts con- 

 siderably. Beyond this I know nothing to separate the two species. 

 Harborne is a suburb of Birmingham, but in Staffordshire. The Vicarage 

 is about four or five miles from the centre of this city, and the meadow 

 where the specimen was found is, according to my informant, far from any 

 river or stream. — F. Cobukn (7, Holloway Head, Birmingham). 



[We believe it is now generally admitted that the Water Shrew, C. 

 fodiens, and the so-called Oared Shrew, C. remifer, are not specifically 

 distinct. — Ed.] 



Long-tailed Field Mouse swimming.— On Nov. 9th, 1S90, while 

 standing at the brink of a pond, I saw a three-part grown Long-tailed 

 Field Mouse swim out, from the bank under my feet, into the middle of 

 the pond. It then remained perfectly still for a time, being partly supported 

 by the duck-weed, and seemed to be listening. The twitching of the large 

 sensitive ears was plainly visible. It then swam back in a leisurely manner, 

 and, catching sight of me, disappeared into a hole in the bank. Its actions 

 were particularly slow and deliberate — very different from those of an 

 animal compelled, by the sudden appearance of an enemy, to take to the 

 water.— G. T. Rope (Blaxhall, Suffolk). 



[On one occasion we saw a Long-tailed Field Mouse swimmiug in salt- 

 water. We were waiting for wildfowl on an island at the mouth of a 



