34 A Memoir on the Indian species of Shrews. [No. 1. 



13. S. perottetii, Duvernoy, Guerin's Mag. de Zool. 1842, livr. 

 8. We can only refer to Prof. Schinz's description of this species, 

 which is as follows : — " S. notceo saturate fusco-nigricante, gastrceo 

 canescente, artubus pedibusque pilosis, auriculis magnis, conspicuis. 

 Long, corporis I" 4'", caudse 11/" " From the Nilgiris. We have 

 a Darjiling female which approximates this description, and may 

 prove to be of the same species. Head and body 1 \ in. ; tail I in. ; 

 hind-foot and claws \\ in. Skull somewhat exceeding -§ in. Teeth 

 white. Colour uniform brown, with a slight tinge of chesnut ; and 

 scarcely paler below. Feet and tail distinctly furred, besides the 

 usual scattered long hairs on the latter. Claws whitish and con- 

 spicuous. Tail brown above, pale and perhaps flesh-coloured be- 

 neath ; more probably, however, of a livid hue ; and tapering evenly 

 throughout. If new, S. Hodgsonii, nobis. 



14. S. nudipes, nobis, n. s. Eemarkable for its naked feet and 

 very large ears ; also for the odoriferous glands on the sides being 

 strongly developed, whereas we can detect them in no other of 

 these minute species. Length of female, If in. ; tail, 1^ in. : hind- 

 foot, ^- in. Ears conspicuously larger than in the others : tail 

 almost nude, save of the scattered long hairs : and the fore-feet 

 and toes of the hind-feet are conspicuously naked, and apparently 

 flesh-coloured. Fur uniform brown above (like the back of Coe- 

 sira vulgaris), a little grizzled and glistening ; the lower-parts 

 with a silvery gloss : tail brown above, pale (probably flesh-coloured) 

 below ; somewhat thick and uniformly tapering. Specimen procur- 

 ed at Amherst (Tenasserim provinces). 



15. S. atratus, nobis, n. s. Of this we have only a headless 

 specimen, which was found impaled upon a thorn by some Shrike,* 

 at Cherra Punji in the Khasya hills : but the species is obviously 

 distinct from all the preceding. It is remarkable for its very dark 

 colour, extending over the feet and tail, which is even blackish un- 

 derneath. Length of tail 1 in. ; and of hind-foot \\ in. Pur black- 



* The same fact we have observed in England of Lanius collurto and Cor- 

 sira vulgaris : these diminutive Shrews falling an easy prey to the " Butcher- 

 birds ;" while the larger members of the same genus are ferociously predatory 

 upon any hapless birdlet they may chance to seize, — as is likewise the case with 

 Moles and doubtless other soricid^e of adequate size and strength. 



