STAR-NOSED MOLE. 
141 
colour of the feet we have seen some variations : a specimen before us, 
has dark brown feet, another pale ashy brown, and a third yellowish 
white ; the majority of specimens, however, have their feet brownish 
white. One specimen is marked under the chin, throat and neck with 
light yellowish brown, the others are darker in those parts. 
DIMENSIONS. 
From point of nose to root of tail 
Tail 
From heel to end of claw 
Breadth of palm 
Inches. 
5 
3 
X 
8 
I 
HABITS. 
As far as we have been able to ascertain, the habits of this species do 
not differ very widely from those of our Common Shrew Mole. We doubt, 
however, whether its galleries ever run to so great a distance as those of 
the latter animal, nor does it appear to be in the habit of visiting high 
grounds. It burrows and forms galleries under ground, and appears to 
be able to make rapid progress in soft earth. Its food is of the same na- 
ture as that of the Common Mole, and it appears to prefer the ^ icinity 
of brooks or swampy places, doubtless because in such localities earth 
worms and the larvae of various insects are generally abundant. 
The proper use of the radiating process at the end ot the nose has not 
been fully ascertained, but as the animal has the power of moving these 
tendrils in various directions, they may be useful in its search after worms 
or other prey, as is the moveable snout of the Shrew Mole. When con- 
fined in a box, or on the floor of a room, this Mole feeds on meat of almost 
any kind. It is not as strong as the Common Mole, nor as injurious to the 
farmer, since it avoids cultivated fields, and confines itself to meado\vs 
and low swampy places. 
During the rutting season the tail of the Star-nosed Mole is greatly en- 
larged, which circumstance caused Dr. Haelan to describe a specimen 
taken at that season as a new species, under the name Condylura 
macroura. 
Dr. Godman’s account of the abundance of this species does not coincide 
with our own experience on this subject. He says, “ In many places it 
is scarcely possible to advance a step without breaking down their galle- 
ries, by which the surface is thrown into ridges and the surface of the 
green sward in no slight degree disfigured.” We have sometimes sup- 
posed that he might have mistaken the galleries of the Common Shrew 
