148 
SAY’S LEAST SHREW. 
Of the mode in which the Least Shrew passes the winter we have 
no very positive information. It is capable of sustaining a great degree 
of cold. We have never found one of these animals in a torpid state, 
when examining burrows, holes, or cavities in and under rocks or stones, 
&c., for the purpose of ascertaining, if possible, the manner in which 
they passed the winter. We have seen minute tracks on the surface 
of the snow where it was four feet in depth in the Northern parts of 
New- York, which we ascertained were the foot-prints of a Shrew which 
was afterwards captured, although we cannot be certain that it was 
this species. It had sought the dried stalks of the pig weed {clienopo- 
dium album) on which the ripened seeds were still hanging and upon 
which it had evidently been feeding. 
We are unacquainted with any other habits of this minute species. 
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. 
If authors have made no mistake in the designation of this species, 
as we strongly suspect, it has a wide geographical range : according 
to Richardson, it is found as far to the north as Behring’s Straits. The 
specimens from which our figures were taken, were obtained in the im- 
mediate vicinity of New- York. Dr. Dekay, in his Nat. Hist, of New- 
York, p. 20, mentions that although he had been unsuccessful in obtaining 
it in New-York, a specimen was found in Connecticut, by Mr. Linsley. 
We have not ascertained its southern range, all we know of its exist- 
ence in the west, is from Say’s short description of the only specimen 
obtained west of the Missouri. 
general remarks. 
All our authors seem anxious to obtain Say’s Least Shrew, and we 
have seen dozens of specimens of young Shrews of several species, labeled 
in the cabinets “Sorex Parvus.''^ 
Although there were few more accurate describers than Say, yet his 
description of S. parvus, is too imperfect, to enable us to feel confident 
of the species. There was no examination of its dental system, and 
his description would easily apply to half a dozen other species. The 
characters by which we may separate the different Shrews are not 
easily detected, they very much resemble each other in form, colour 
and habits ; they are minute nocturnal animals and not easily procured. 
There exist but few specimens in our cabinets to enable us to in- 
stitute comparisons, and a century will pass away before all our species 
are discovered. We have very little doubt, that when the species which 
