species of Sorex—or, as he at first called them, varieties— occurred in our Islands.
He did not at once recognise that the Irish form was identical with the British
form, but called it Sorex hibernicus, and the British species Sorex rusticus; later
he discovered that both were the same species. In 1857 Blasius pointed out that
5 “. rusticus of Jenyns was the S. pygntceus of Pallas; and so lately as 1895
Mr. Oldfield Thomas demonstrated1 that it was the Sorex minutus of Linnaeus,
and that therefore this was the correct name.
Characters.— The Lesser Shrew is easily recognised from the preceding species
by its smaller size, proportionately longer and narrower snout, and longer tail.
With the exception of the first pair of incisors in the upper and lower jaws, the
teeth are so minute that it requires a magnifying glass to detect them. The tail
is well haired until August, when the covering becomes thin and worn. Length
of head and body to root of tail, 46 to 50 mm.; tail, 33 to 38 mm.; hind foot,
10 mm. General colour above a rich brown, lower parts greyish white; vibrissce
long and abundant; the tail is dark brown above, grey below, and fringed on
each side with longish whitey-grey hairs. The general pelage is more delicate and
iridescent than that of the Common Shrew, and often interspersed with grey hairs.
Dental formula: I. | ; C. #; P. M. | ; M. f. The first upper incisors are not
so long or prominent as in the Common Shrew. The minute canine in the upper
jaw, which in the previous species is behind the line of the incisors, so as to
be barely visible when viewed externally, is in the Lesser Shrew slightly larger
proportionately, and stands in a line with the incisors; it is generally, if not
always, visible. There seems to be a great uniformity in the size and pelage of
this animal in all parts of Great Britain and Ireland. I can detect no varieties
in a fairly large series of specimens taken in Surrey, Yorkshire, Scotland, North
Uist, Skye, and Ireland. In August the upper pelage becomes a little lighter and
tail hairs more uniform and sparse, but that is all. Considering the ages that
Ireland has been separated from this country we might expect some slight superficial
difference in the form and pelage, but there is apparently none. I have
never seen a variety of this species, but Sir Douglas Brooke possesses an albino,
which was obtained in Fermanagh,2 and an albino Shrew was recorded from
Limerick,® which, as the editor of the ‘ Field ’ points out, must have been a Lesser
Shrew.
Distribution.— The Lesser Shrew is not found in North America, but its
range extends from Ireland and the British Isles across Europe and northern
1 Zoologist; 1895, p. 62. * Barrett-Hamilton, Irish N a tu ra listMarch 1895. * Field, Aug. 21, 1897.
Asia, north of the Himalayas, through China and Mongolia, to the Pacific Ocean,
where it also occurs in the Island of Saghalien. In England it is very generally
but sparsely distributed, and though not yet recorded from every county, it will
probably be found in all parts when local faunas are properly worked out. It has
been most frequently noticed in the southern counties, owing to the greater
number of competent observers; and it is not rare in suitable places, such as old
copses and the bases of old stone walls, where it loves to make its runs.
Mr. Ruskin Butterfield tells me it is sparsely distributed in the neighbourhood of
Hastings and St. Leonards, Sussex, but is difficult to trap. At Horsham, in the
same county, it certainly occurs, although I have as yet failed to capture a
specimen. In Surrey it has been taken several times, and the specimen from
which Mr. Thorburn drew his figures was captured by the side of an old church
wall at Hascombe, Godaiming (1903), where a small colony exists. In Hants,
Dorset, and Devon it is well known but considered scarce, and it has been noted
in Norfolk,1 Suffolk,2 Worcester, Shropshire, Berkshire, and Cambridge.® It has
been found in Northumberland4 as a northern limit in England, in Yorkshire on
many occasions, even so far to the east as the Spurn,® while in the extreme west
it has been taken in Anglesey6 and Glamorganshire.7 It is reasonable, therefore,
to suppose that it occurs in all the intermediate counties, since it has recently
been noticed in Nottinghamshire.® With regard to it's distribution in the west of
England, Mr. T. A. Coward kindly sent me the following note:
‘ The Lesser Shrew occurs in Cheshire, but it is not common. I have found
the skull in owl pellets from different localities, but only in the proportion of at
least one in a hundred to those of araneus. I also picked up one in a pellet I found
on the cliff at Rhos Neigr, Anglesey. The identity of all these skulls was kindly
confirmed by Mr. Oldfield Thomas. The first example identified for Cheshire was
one which was captured by a cat at Rainow, near Macclesfield, on January 24,
1894. It is now at Owens College, Manchester. A female from Killencoole,
which I dissected, contained four embryos in small dark green sacs. The snouts
were blunt, turned over the mouth; the eyes dark rings of pigment; the toes
showed in the posterior limbs; the tail long, and the vertebras were visible.
Length about 13 mm. as nearly as I could measure without breaking the embryo.’
Though it occurs in the north of England,, it is considered rare. The Lesser
1 Zoologist, 1897, p. 123.
4 Ibid. 1891, p. 264.
7 Pocock, ibid. 1897, p. 507.
* Ibid. 1903, p. 69.
* Pocock, ibid. 1901, p. 388.
8 Whitaker, Field, April 1904.
8 Ibid. 1900, pp. 142, 186, 421.
6 Coward, ibid. 1897, p. 327.