52 John F. Pagels, Carol S. Jones, Charles O. Handley, Jr. 



Based on few specimens from six scattered localities in Piedmont 

 and mountain counties, Handley and Patton (1947) suggested that the 

 southeastern shrew, Sorex longirostris longirostris Bachman, had a 

 nearly statewide distribution in Virginia. Later, Stout (1967) reported a 

 capture in Hanover County, and noted that this record, along with the 

 Fairfax County and Brunswick County records of Handley and Patton 

 (1947) established the easternmost distributional limit of S. I longiros- 

 tris very near the Fall Line in Virginia. Gardner (1950) and Paradiso 

 (1969) reported five specimens from four localities in Maryland and one 

 from the District of Columbia, all taken in the Coastal Plain. Recent 

 collections and studies stressing the biology of shrews, for example 

 those of Tate et al. (1980) in Virginia, obtained many additional speci- 

 mens of S. longirostris and provided much ecological data. 



This paper summarizes ecological and distributional data on 5. /. 

 longirostris in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, and 

 makes comparisons with accounts from other sections of the eastern 

 United States (French 1980a, b). Sorex I. fisheri Merriam, which occurs 

 in the Dismal Swamp in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North 

 Carolina, is not considered here. Handley (1979, 1980) discussed this 

 larger subspecies. 



MATERIALS AND METHODS 



We found records of 61 specimens of S. I. longirostris that have 

 been taken in our area: one from the District of Columbia, five from 

 Maryland, and fifty-five from Virginia (see Fig. 1 and the list of speci- 

 mens examined). The specimens are in the Carnegie Museum of Natural 

 History (CM), North Carolina State Museum of Natural History 

 (NCSM), U.S. National Museum of Natural History (USNM), and Vir- 

 ginia Commonwealth University Mammal Collection (VCU). 



Specimens Examined 



DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.— Washington, 1 (USNM). 



MARYLAND.— Anne Arundel Co.: Shady Side, 1 (USNM). Calvert Co.: 

 Camp Roosevelt, nr. Chesapeake Beach, 2 (USNM); Chesapeake Beach, 1 

 (USNM). Prince Georges Co.: West Branch of Patuxent River, 4 mi W Hall, 1 

 (USNM). 



VIRGINIA.— Amelia Co.: Virginia Secondary Highway (SH) 609, 6 mi NNE 

 Amelia, 2 (VCU); US Highway (US) 360, 3 mi NW SH 698 (2 mi N, 4 mi E 

 Amelia), 1 (VCU); US 360, ca. 3 mi SE SH 604 (ca. 6 mi ENE Amelia), 1 

 (VCU); Amelia Court House, 4 (USNM). Appomattox Co.: Appomattox- 

 Buckingham State Forest, 3 mi N, 9.8 mi W Appomattox, 1 (VCU). Arlington 

 Co.: Little Pimmit Run, 2 mi SW Chain Bridge, 1 (USNM). Brunswick Co.: 

 Seward Forest, nr. Triplett, 8-10 mi N Virginia-North Carolina boundary, 2 



