. The popular natural history . Zoology. 102 THE OARED SHREW. edged with even longer and stiffer hairs than those which decorate the same parts in the Water Shrew. As may be imagined from this structure, the habits of the animal are aquatic in their nature, and its manners are so closely similar to those of the preceding species, that it may easily be mistaken for that animal, when seen " at a little distance, so as to render the difference in size less conspicuous, and the colour of the under portions of the body less apparent. It has already been stated that the back of the Water Shrew
. The popular natural history . Zoology. 102 THE OARED SHREW. edged with even longer and stiffer hairs than those which decorate the same parts in the Water Shrew. As may be imagined from this structure, the habits of the animal are aquatic in their nature, and its manners are so closely similar to those of the preceding species, that it may easily be mistaken for that animal, when seen " at a little distance, so as to render the difference in size less conspicuous, and the colour of the under portions of the body less apparent. It has already been stated that the back of the Water Shrew is of a velvety black, and the abdomen and under portions of the body of a beautiful and clearly defined white. In the Oared Shrew, however, the black is pro- fusely sprinkled with white hairs, and the fur of the abdomen and flanks is blackish grey instead of pure white. The middle of the abdomen, however, together with that of the throat, is strongly tinged with yellow : the throat being more of an ashy yellow than the abdomen. Although not so common as the Efd and the Water Shrew, it is of more. OARED SHREW, OR BLACK WATER %1MX^.—{CrOSSOpUS ciliatus.) frequent occurrence than is generally supposed, and has been found in many parts of England where it was formerly supposed to be wanting. The tota'. length of the Oared Shrew is about five inches and a quarter, the head an I body measuring rather more than three inches, and the tail being about two inches in length. Its nose is not quite so sharp or narrow as that of the Water Shrew, and the ears are decorated with a slight fringe of white hair. The latter third of the tail is flattened, as if for swimming, while the remain- ing two-thirds are nearly cylindiical, but are slightly squared, as has been already mentioned of the common Shrew. The elongation of the nose, which has already been noticed in the Tupaias of Sumatra, seems to have reached the utmost limit in those curious inhabit- ants of the Cape that are called, from t
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
