﻿Dec, 1895.] 



SOREX ALBIBARBIS. 



47 



New York (Essex County), New Hainpshire (Protile Lake), Maine (Lin- 

 coin), and Pennsylvania (Monroe County). 



Genera I characters.— in size equal to Sorex palustris. Teeth narrower, 

 longer, and less lieavily pigmented than in the latter. Color of belly 

 never sharply defined from that of the sides. 



Color. summer: Dorsal surface very dark seal brown, almost 

 black, with faint reflections, the hairs marked subterininally Avilh 

 smoke gray, thus producing a slight grizzled appearance; fur every- 

 where slate gray at base; ventral surface sepia, a little mixed with smoke 

 gray, becoming clear, pale smoke gray on chin and fading insensibly 

 into color of back; dorsum of manus and pes sepia, paler on inner 

 side, the former also paler distally; tail clove brown dorsally, grayish 

 ventrally. In winter: Back as in the summer pelage; belly pale hair 

 brown or silvery smoke gray, according to light; a distinctly darker 

 shade between the front legs and a paler area on chin. On the sides 

 the color of belly shades gradually into that of back; otherwise as in 

 the worn summer pelage. 



Slcull— The skull of Sorex alhiharhis (PL YI, fig. 2) resembles that of 

 8. palustris so closely that the description of the former will suffice for 

 both. 



Teeth. — The teeth of Sorex atbibarbis dift'er somewhat from those of 

 S. palustris in the form and pigmentation of the unicuspids (PI. Y, 

 fig. 2). These are slightly narrower and longer from point to base, and 

 are less extensively pigmented at the tips than in S. palustris. 



Measurements. — Seven adults from Elizabeth town, N. Y. Average: 

 Length, 154.7 mm.; tail vertebriB, 71.3 mm.; hind foot, 19.3 mm. Two 

 specimens from Profile Lake, New Hampshire, measure, respectively: 

 Length, 157 mm. ; tail vertebrae, G8 mm. ; hind foot, 19 mm. ; and, length, 

 149 mm.; tail vertebme, 65 mm.; hind foot, 19 mm. 



General rem arlts. — Sorex alhiharhis needs comparison with /S'.j^^i^v.s- 

 tris only. In color summer specimens of 8. alhiharhis are very different 

 from 8. palustris and remarkably like 8. (Atophyrax) hendirii, a species 

 readily distinguished by its cranial and dental characters. The winter 

 coats of Sorcx alhiharhis and 8. palustris sometimes resemble each other 

 rather closely. In the former the color of the belly shades gradually into 

 that of the back, while the chin is noticeably paler than the rest of the 

 ventral surface. In thelatter the color of the ventral surface is uniformly 

 pale and separated from that of the back by a sharp line of demarca- 

 tion. On the other hand, the two animals are, as already stated, very 

 differently colored in summer, when 8orex alhiharhis may be recognized 

 at a glance by its brownish belly, 8, palustris being then colored 

 practically as in autumn and winter. 



