Natural History of the Mammalia of India and Ceylon Part 21

HABITAT.--Ceylon, Dimboola, below Newara Elia.

DESCRIPTION.--"Colour uniform dusky or dusky slate, with the tips of the fur rufescent; fur long; large sebaceous a.n.a.l glands; smell very powerful."--_Kellaart_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-3/4 inches; tail, 2-1/4 inches.

NO. 136. SOREX GRIFFITHI.

_The Large Black Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Khasia hills and Arracan.

DESCRIPTION.--"Deep blackish-brown, with a slight rufous reflection in a certain light; fur short, close, soft, and adpressed; tail thick at the base, with a few long very slender straggling hairs along its entire length; ears small and rounded; snout elongated."--_Horsfield_.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5-3/4 inches; tail, 2-1/2 inches.

Horsfield puts this down as having been found in Afghanistan by Griffiths, but this is an error owing to Griffiths' Afghanistan and Khasia collections having got mixed up.

NO. 137. SOREX HETERODON.

HABITAT.--Khasia hills.

DESCRIPTION.--"Very similar to _S. soccatus_ in general appearance, but less dark coloured, with shorter fur, and pale instead of blackish feet and tail underneath; the feet too are broader, especially the hind feet, and they have a hairy patch below the heel"

(_Blyth_). The skull is narrower, and the upper incisors less strongly hooked.

_GENUS FEROCULUS_.

Teeth small; upper incisors shorter and less strongly hooked than in restricted _Sorex_; posterior spur large; lower incisors serrated with three coronal points. Feet very large.

NO. 138. FEROCULUS MACROPUS.

_The Large-footed Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Ceylon.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur, long, soft uniform blackish--faint rufescent tinge.

SIZE.--Head and body 4-1/4 inches; tail 2-1/4.

The following species are of a more diminutive type, and are commonly called "pigmy-shrews;" in other respects they are true shrews.

NO. 139. SOREX HODGSONI.

_The Nepal Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 78_).

HABITAT.--Nepal and Sikim.

DESCRIPTION.--Brown, with a slight tinge of chestnut; feet and tail furred; claws white.

SIZE.--Head and body 1-1/2 inch; tail, 1 inch.

Found in coppices and fields; rarely entering houses.

NO. 140. SOREX PERROTETI.

_The Neilgherry Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 79_).

HABITAT.--Neilgherry hills, probably also other parts of Southern India.

DESCRIPTION.--"Back deep blackish-brown; belly pale; limbs and feet brown; palms and plantae clad with hairs; ears large, conspicuous."

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-4/12 inch; tail, 11/12 inch.

NO. 141. SOREX MICRONYX.

_The Small-clawed Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 80_).

HABITAT.--West Himalayas, k.u.maon, Mussoorie.

DESCRIPTION.--Claws very minute, with fine hairs impending them, only to be detected by a lens; fur paler and more chestnut-brown than any other of these minute shrews, and more silvery below.

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-5/8 inch; tail 1-1/8 inch.

NO. 142. SOREX MELANODON.

_The Black-toothed Pigmy-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 81_).

HABITAT.--Calcutta.

DESCRIPTION.--Called _melanodon_ from the remarkable colouring of its teeth, which are piceous and white-tipped; colour uniform fuscous, scarcely paler beneath.

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-7/8 inch; tail, 1-1/16 inch.

NO. 143. SOREX NUDIPES.

_The Naked-footed Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Tena.s.serim.

DESCRIPTION.--"Remarkable for its naked feet and very large ears; also for the odoriferous glands on the sides being strongly developed, whereas we can detect them in no other of these minute species"

(_Blyth_). Colour brown above, a little grizzled and glistening, more silvery below.

SIZE.--Head and body, 1-3/4 inch; tail, 1-1/16 inch.

NO. 144. SOREX ATRATUS.