SCAPAXUS AMERTCANUS. l6l 



SCAPANUS AMERICANUS (Bartram, MS.) Coues. * 



Hairy-tailed Mole ; Brewer s Mole. 



I have secured a number of examples of this species from the 

 borders of the Wilderness, but have not observed it within the co- 

 niferous forests. Specimens have been taken in the garden, where it 

 excavates long and tortuous burrows, often marked upon the surface 

 by crumbling ridges of earth. 



Its habits, so far as I am aware, resemble those of its nearest rela- 

 tive, the shrew mole (Scalops aqiLaticns), except that its mounds do 

 not contain a chamber and surface opening, and its galleries are 

 usually made a little deeper. Like this species it is most common 

 in dry meadow lands, while the star-nose is usually found in moist 

 or swampy places. It is much more common here than the shrew 

 mole, and is evidently a more northern animal. It is not known to 

 indulo-e in the little "noon-day excursions" which, as already related, 

 are characteristic of the last-named species. 



In a wet meadow where Dr. Fisher and I caught eight star-nosed 

 moles in October and November, 1883, we procured but one Brewer's 

 Mole It was taken in the following manner : A section of stove 

 pipe, the lower end of which had been closed with a tight-fitting 

 board, was sunk along the line of a gallery to such a depth that its 

 upper edge was on a level with the floor of the runway. The surface 

 opening was covered over with a piece of rubber cloth to exclude 

 the lio-ht. For some time the moles worked around this pitfall with- 

 out tumbling in, to prevent which operation Dr. Fisher arranged a 

 pair of wings or leads (strips of boards), placing their inner ends 

 flush with the pipe. The Moles now adopted a new mode of pro- 

 cedure and filled the pipe with dirt so that they might pass over it 

 with impunity. It was left in this condition for some days and then 



* In the Amcru-an iVatumlist for March, 1S79 (pp. 189-190), Dr. Coues refers this species, 

 which is generally known as S. Br.-.vc-ri, to Talf>a Amt-riauia (Bartrani, MS.) Harlan. This con- 

 clusion is corroborated by Dobson in his Monograph of the Insectivora (Part II, London, June 

 1S83, pp. 134-135). 



