. Agricultural zoology. Zoology. MAMMALS. 31 superficial resemblance to mice, with, slender soft- haired bodies, small eyes, and tolerably long, thickly haired tails. Shrews are extremely voracious, eating daily more than their own weight of food, and destroying an enormous quantity of subterranean vermin. They live in underground passages, not usually made by themselves, but dug out by field- voles. They smell strongly of musk, secreted by two glands in the hinder part of the body. The blackish-brown Shrew-mouse, or Common Shrew {Borex vulgaris), and the Lesser Shrew (Sorex pyg- TTKBUs), only
. Agricultural zoology. Zoology. MAMMALS. 31 superficial resemblance to mice, with, slender soft- haired bodies, small eyes, and tolerably long, thickly haired tails. Shrews are extremely voracious, eating daily more than their own weight of food, and destroying an enormous quantity of subterranean vermin. They live in underground passages, not usually made by themselves, but dug out by field- voles. They smell strongly of musk, secreted by two glands in the hinder part of the body. The blackish-brown Shrew-mouse, or Common Shrew {Borex vulgaris), and the Lesser Shrew (Sorex pyg- TTKBUs), only about two inches long, kill, in the corn- fields, gardens, or woodland, an enormous quantity of noxious insects found in the earth, together with. Fig. 17.—The Common Shrew (Soreoi vulgaris'). their larvse; also snails and worms, and sometimes field-voles, and are in the highest degree serviceable. But the larger (up to 3J inches long), black Water Shrew (Sorex fodiens), although serviceable on land in the same way as the other kinds, is very injurious to fishing and fish-breeding, since it devours the small fish and kills the larger ones, eating out their eyes and brains. The Mole {Taljpa europcea). Body thick, cylindrical. Legs short, fore legs broad and spade-like, with broad digging claws. Eyes small, scarcely visible among the fur. No external ears; the auditory opening can be completely closed by a fold of skin. Shining black fur. The mole is found in every soil. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Bos, Jan Ritzema, 1850-1928; Ainsworth Davis, J. R. (James Richard), 1861-1934. London, Chapman & Hall, Ld.
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1894
