CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BRITISH FAUNA. 239 



nected with the back. Tail pointed covered with 

 very short hair, with a crest or ridge on the under 

 side, of paler- coloured hair. The fore-teeth are 

 two in number, and long, especially in the lower 

 jaw. 



Although usually described as an inhabitant of 

 moist places, it would appear that this shrew oc- 

 casionally prefers other situations. The speci- 

 men above described, was found dead on the top 

 of a ridge of dry hills on the 3d September 1812. 

 Mr Montagu appears likewise to have observed 

 it in a similar situation, as appears from his re- 

 marks on this species. — (Linn. Trans, vol. viii, 

 p. 276'.) 



This species chiefly frequents fields of clover and 

 strong oats. It is by no means rare in the county 

 of Fife. 



Merret, in his Pina.v 7xrum vaiurallum Bri- 

 tamiicarum, p. I67. in all probability refers to 

 this species, when enumerating the varieties of 

 the common shrew, (Sorex araneus.) " Inveni- 

 tur (he says) nigri vel fusci coloris, et alter dorso 

 nigro "centreque albo, et parvus, griseus, et in par- 

 tibus borealibus magnus, cauda brevi." 



Our countryman Sir Robert Sibbald does not 

 appear to have been acquainted v^ith this animal^ 

 unless we suppose that he refers to it when he 

 says, " varii mures sylvatici apud nos : quidam 

 dorso nigro qui talpas occidit." 



In the sketch of Caledonian Zoology, composed 

 by Mr Pennant, and prefixed to the Flora Scotica 



