SOREX FLA VESCENS.- Geoff. St. Hil. 
Mammalia. — Plate XLY. 2. 
S. supra rufo-flavus, subtus flavo-cinnereus ; villo breve rigido; rostro elongato antice bifido ; auribus, 
magnis, semicircularibus, fere nudis. 
Longitudo e nasi apice ad basin caudas 4 unc. 4 lin ; caudse 21 lin. 
Sorex Flavescens, Geoff. St. Hil. Mem. des Mus. d’Hist. Nat. tom xv. 
Colour.— The back and the upper parts of the sides broccoli-brown, dis- 
tinctly tinted with light yellowish-brown, —the tint of the upper surface of the 
head darkest ; the lower portion of the sides and the under parts, wood- 
brown ; the chin, throat, sides of neck and breast strongly tinged with dull 
reddish orange; the fur, at its base, slightly inclined to pale bluish black 
Tad rusty grey ; ears, anteriorly, pale yellowish brown ; muzzle black • 
whiskers partly reddish brown, and partly bluish white; extremities wood- 
brown, exteriorly and anteriorly faintly tinted with yellowish brown • nails 
white. 
Form, &c.— Figure moderately robust. Head small, superiorly slightly 
compressed, anteriorly conical, the muzzle prolonged, cylindrical, and its 
apex slightly bifid, the two portions, one towards each side, inclined 
slightly outwards and forwards, as wall be seen by reference to fig. b 2. Ears 
semicircular, with, anteriorly, a sprinkling of fine short fur, and^the inferior 
margin of each, as well as the oblique septem behind the meatus audilorius exter- 
nal, fringed with some rather coarse white hair. Legs short and rather robust • 
toes strong, rather long, and armed with short, very crooked, and pointed 
claws. Tail cylindrical, and tapered from its base to its apex. Fur short 
rigid and closely recumbent ; hair of tail very short, and rather scanty, the 
tip of the tail with a rudimentary tuft of short white hairs. 
dimensions. 
Inches. Lines. 
Length from the tip of the nose to 
the base of the tail 4 4 
of the tail 1 9 
Height when standing 1 4 
Distance from 
Inches. Lines. 
the ear to the eye 0 
the eye to tip of the 
nose 
6 
7 £ 
This species, first described by Geoffroy St. Hillaire, is quite distinct from that which was 
previously recognised by Desmaret* and others as Sorer Cape, ms. Both the one and the 
othei, liowevei, occui in the same localities, and both are occasionally found in rocky situations 
in difieient paits of the Cape District. They are also occasionally found in wooded ravines, 
and when they occur in such situations they are found most frequently under decayed vegetable 
matter, or else about the roots of shrubs and small trees. 
Encyclopedie Methodique Mammalogie, page 152, No. 241. 
