No. 4SS] 



HABITS OF THE SHREW 



521 



escape must be employed; perhaps it pushes out into the loose 

 soil. The instance of the obliquely descending burrow at one nest 

 suggests the "bolt run" by which the European mole is said to 

 escape when its fortress is attacked (Adams, 1903, p. 13). This 

 burrow, however, was probably not a back door escape, since it 

 ended blindly and the shrew did not enter it at this time of attack. 



The short-tailed shrew is so well protected from its enemies that 

 no animals appear to depend upon it for food. It is abundant 

 and widely distributed. In security it devours such quantities 

 of voles and insects that its economic importance is considerable; 

 and since, unlike the other common shrew, Sorex 'pcrsonatus, it is 

 almost exclusively carnivorous, there is little to detract from its 



LITERATURE CITED 



iiACHMAN, J. 



1837. Journ. of the AauL <>/ X,iL Sri. 

 Kennicott, Robt. 



1857. Tlie Qun.h'uiHMls (,f Illinois : 



■.of Phihuhlphia. Vol. 7, pt.2. 

 „J oj I'aU uts for lSo7. Agricul- 



MoKDKX, .1. 



1883. Canuilion Spnrtsman n,ul Xntundist. Vol. 3, p. 2S3. 

 Mekuiam. C. Jl. 



1886. The Mammals of the Adirondack Region. Henrv Holt. 316 pp. 

 Dahl, Fr. 



1891. Die Xahrungsvon-iitho Jcs Mavihvurfs. Zool. Am. Bd. 14, 

 Fisher, A. K. 



1893. Tho ll;.\vk< nn.l OwN of thr rnifd StaK- in tlirir R.'lation to 

 Agriculluiv. r. .^. Ihpt. Aarir.. Div. of ( )niith. and Mammal., 

 Bull. Xo. -A. 

 ^roNTCa.MKHv. T. II.. .Ik. 



1899. 01)s('rvati(>ns on Ow U wiih I'aM iculMr Rrizard to their Feeding 



