72 
MAMMALS. 
the old turf -covered molehills. In the east regular mole- 
trappers are employed to keep down these so-called pests. 
The mole is very abundant in Caithness, wherever the ground 
is suitable, and we have, besides our own observation of 
this, the corroborative statements of our correspondents. 
Family SORICIDa:. 
18. Sorex vulgaris, (i.) Common Shrew. 
Common to both counties. 
19. Sorex minutus, (L.) Lesser Shrew. 
20. Crossopus fodiens, {Pallas). Water Shrew. 
Is not rare in Sutherland, but its retiring habits render its 
numbers difficult to ascertain. It frequents the limestone 
burns and rivers of Assynt, and we have seen one obtained 
on the Inver river in 1883. In Mr. Alston's paper on 
" The Mammals of Sutherland," it is stated that the dark 
variety, formerly separated as C. rcmifer, does not appear 
to be found within the county, although common in many 
parts of Scotland. The one we saw, however, in 1883 
belonged to the dark race, the dark colour passing entirely 
over the under side. Mr. Houstoun writes from Kintradwell, 
that he has twice seen the water shrew alive, the first 
time both in the water and on land, and the second time 
on land only, and has, on three separate occasions, got dead 
specimens, evidently dropped by a cat, but perfect and 
apparently uninjured. 
In 1885, also, on the sandy links of Culgower, in Loth, 
one was caught in a trap near the mouth of a farm drain, on 
the 7th July. It was white underneath, the dark colour 
appearing through the white. Another was seen at Golspie. 
Eegarding the carnivorous propensities of the water shrew 
there appears to be no reasonable doubt, and we have only 
