JACKSON STATUS OF MBRRIAM’S SHREW 31 
Another specimen (skin and broken skull) was secured by Mr. 
Edmund Heller, November 26, 1914, at Desert Ranch, 100 miles north- 
east of Golconda, Elko County, Nevada, where it had been caught by 
a house cat. The skull of this specimen is slightly larger and has a 
somewhat higher braincase than that of the type-specimen of S. mer- 
riami, but it is decidedly more nearly like this form than 8. leucogenys. 
The last specimen to make its appearance, a skin accompanied by a 
broken skull, was collected by Mr. George G. Cantwell, November 18, 
1919, at the entrance to an old badger digging on top of a ‘^high bunch 
grass hill,” at Starbuck (altitude 645 feet), Columbia County, Wash- 
ington. It shows no appreciable differences from the type-specimen 
of merriami. 
The specimens enumerated above represent all that are to be found 
of these species in the larger American collections. It can be seen that 
we have entirely insufficient material with which to work ' out the 
relationships of the two forms. Moreover our entire knowledge of the 
habits of these mammals is disclosed in this brief account, the out- 
standing fact being that these shrews are rather aberrant in their 
habitat, as compared with other American members of the genus 
Sorex, in that they inhabit an arid sagebrush association of the Sonoran 
Zone. It is hardly probable that these little mammals are anywhere 
very abundant. On the other hand, in view of their extensive geo- 
graphic range, it does not seem probable that they are actually as 
rare as the few present in collections would indicate. We are accus- 
tomed to looking for shrews in their time-honored habitats among 
mossy logs, along grassy streams, and in damp woods. It seems very 
possible that a methodical search in proper ecological associations in 
favorable localities, with the definite object of Sorex merriami or Sorex 
leucogenys in mind, might produce results. 
Biological Survey , Washington, D. C, 
