﻿12 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 10. 



hrevicaucla from tlie Upper Mississippi Yalley. This intermediate form 

 was named Sorex talpoides by Gapper in 1830 (type from near Lake 

 Simcoe, Ontario, Canada), and lias been recognized as a distinct spe- 

 cies by Baird (1857) and Miller (1893).^ The impossibility of assigning 

 logical geographic ranges to the resulting two forms, since the smaller 

 talx)oides surrounds the larger hrevicauda on three sides (north, east, 

 and south), and the additional fact that taJjmides is intermediate 

 between the large I^ebraska hrevicmula and the small form from the 

 coast of E"ew England are material obstacles to the recognition of 

 tal^yoidesj even as a subspecies. Furthermore, the species as a whole 

 grades into caroUnensis when it approaches the edge of the Austrori- 

 parian fauna; hence talpoides, being in this sense only an intergrade 

 between hrevicauda and caroUnensis, is unworthy of recognition by 

 name. 



In color eastern specimens average slightly paler than those from 

 the Mississippi Yalley, but the seasonal difference is as great as the 

 geographic. There is also much difference in the apparent color of 

 the same specimen, according to the way it is held with reference to 

 the light. A skin that is dusky or sooty when held away from the light 

 and viewed from behind becomes almost ashy gray when looked at 

 from the opposite direction. Winter specimens from Elk Eiver, Minn., 

 sometimes have a well-marked brownish-chestnut dorsal band. 



Note on the so-called Blarina costar icensis. — Dr. J. A. Allen has kindly 

 loaned me the type specimen of his Blarina costaricensis. It is in every 

 respect a tyi3ical Blarina hrevicauda^ and doubtless came from some 

 point in the Upper Mississippi Yalley, probably Iowa. The skull and 

 teeth agree perfectly with specimens from this State, where the col- 

 lector, Mr. Oherrie, lived before he went to Gosta Eica. The specimen 

 had no label when it reached Dr. Allen. I do not doubt Mr. Cherrie's 

 entire sincerity in thinking that it came from Costa Eica, but, as too 

 well known, unlabeled museum specimens — particularly alcoholics — 

 often have a way of becoming hopelessly mixed. Dr. Allen states that 

 the skull received from Mr. Cherrie is larger than that of B. taJpoides 

 and the dentition heavier. These are precisely the ways in which true 

 hrevicauda from Iowa and ]S'ebraska differs from its smaller representa- 

 tive of the Atlantic States, Avhich has been called talpoides. I have 

 just compared the skull of the type specimen of costaricensis with 

 skulls from the type locality of hrevicauda and find that the latter is 

 somewhat larger and has equally heavy or slightly heavier teeth. 



In clearing up the status of costaricensis an awkward geographical 

 difficulty is also overcome, for the subgenus Blarina (with 32 teeth) is 

 absolutely restricted to the United States. All of the specimens exam- 

 ined from Mexico and Guatemala, more than 200 in number, belong to 

 the subgenus Cryptotis (with 30 teeth). It surpasses belief that a 



1 After examining tlie material on ttMcIi tlie present x>aper is based Mr. Miller 

 agrees witli me tliat talpoides can not be recognized. 



