Chapter 11

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.--Tenasserim.

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. _The Black Pigmy-Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Khasia hills.

DESCRIPTION.--"Very dark colour, extending over the feet and tail which is even _blackish underneath_; fur blackish-brown above, a little tinged rufescent, and with dark greyish underneath; the feet and tail conspicuously furred, beside the scattered long hairs upon the latter."--_Blyth_.

This species was determined by Blyth on a single specimen, which was found without its head, impaled by some shrike upon a thorn at Cherrapunji. The same thing occasionally occurs in England, when the common shrew may be found impaled by the rufous-backed shrike (_Lanius collurio_).

_SUB-GENUS SORICULUS_ (_Blyth_).

The foregoing species being of the _white-toothed_ variety (with the exception of _S. melanodon_, which, however, exhibits coloration decidedly the _reverse_ of the following type), we now come to the shrews with teeth tipped with a darker colour; the dentition is as in the restricted shrews, with the peculiarity of colour above mentioned. The hind feet of ordinary proportions, unadapted for aquatic habits, and the tail slender and tapering, like that of a mouse, instead of being cylindrical with a stiff brush at the end.

NO. 145. SORICULUS NIGRESCENS. _The Mouse-tailed Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 82_).

HABITAT.--Sikim and Nepal.

DESCRIPTION.--"Above dark-blackish or blackish-brown, slightly tinged rufescent, and with a silvery cast in certain lights; beneath greyish-black" (_Jerdon_). Feet and claws pale; tail slender, straight and naked.

SIZE.--Head and body, 3-1/4 inches; tail, 1-1/2 inch; hind foot, 5/8 inch.

Jerdon says that Kellaart named an allied species from Ceylon _Corsira newera ellia_, but I have not been able to find it in his 'Prodromus Faunae Zeylanicae,' nor elsewhere.

_GENUS CROSSOPUS_ (_Wagner_).

The hind feet large; the lower surface, as also of the tail, fringed with stiff hairs; tail somewhat compressed towards the tip; habits aquatic.

NO. 146. CROSSOPUS HIMALAICUS. _The Himalayan Water-Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 83_).

NATIVE NAMES.--_Oong lagniyu_, Lepcha; _Choopitsi_, Bhot.

HABITAT.--Darjeeling.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur dark brown above, paler beneath; rusty brown on the lower part of throat and middle of belly, according to Jerdon; slate coloured back with scattered long hairs, which are longer and white-tipped on the sides and rump, according to Blyth's memoir; ears very small, hairy, concealed; tail long, slender, fringed with stiff whitish hair beneath; whiskers long and brown.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5 to 6 inches; tail about 3-1/2 inches; hind foot, 3/4 to 11/12 inch.

Jerdon procured this water-shrew at Darjeeling in the Little Rungeet river; it is said to live on small fish, tadpoles, water insects, &c. The movements of the English water-shrew, when swimming, are very agile. It propels itself by alternate strokes of its hind feet, but with an undulating motion, its sides being in a manner extended, and body flattened, showing a narrow white border on each side; then the fur collects a mass of tiny air bubbles which make the submerged portion glow like silver. It prefers clear still water, but at the same time will make its way up running streams and ditches, and occasionally wanders away into fields, and has been found in houses and barns.

Its food is principally aquatic insects, worms, mollusca, and freshwater crustacea. In Bell's 'British Quadrupeds' its mode of poking about amongst stones in search of fresh-water shrimps (_Gammarus pulex_) is well described. Mr. F. Buckland states that he once dissected a water-shrew and found the intestines to contain a dark fluid pulpy matter, which, on being examined by a microscope, proved to consist entirely of the horny cases and legs of minute water insects. Continental writers declare that it will attack any small animal that comes in its way, giving it quite a ferocious character, and it is said to destroy fish spawn. I can hardly believe in its destroying large fish by eating out their brain and eyes. Brehm, who gives it credit for this, must have been mistaken. I have also read of its attacking a rat in a trap which was dead, and was discovered devouring it, having succeeded in making a small hole through the skin.

In England this animal breeds in May. The young are from five to seven in number, and are brought forth in a small chamber in the bank, which is constructed with several openings, one of which is usually under the level of the water.

Dr. Anderson has very fully described the Himalayan species under the name of _Chimarrogale Himalaica_. He caught a specimen in a mountain stream at Ponsee in the Kakhyen hills, 3500 feet above the sea level, and observed it running over the stones in the bed of the stream and plunging freely into the water hunting for insects.

_GENUS NYCTOGALE_.

Head and skull as in _Soricidae_, but with palmated feet and compressed tail, as in _Myogalidae_. Special characteristic, large pads on the soles of the feet, which form sucking discs.

NO. 147. NYCTOGALE ELEGANS. _The Thibet Water-Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Moupin in Thibet.

DESCRIPTION.--Fur of two kinds, a soft under down of slaty grey colour through which pass longer hairs, grey at the base with white tips, "causing the animal to vary considerably in appearance according as these hairs are raised or laid flat;" ears quite concealed, and without a conch; tail stout, longer than the body, quadrangular at the base, then triangular, and finally flattened; feet large and palmated, with large pads on the soles, depressed in the middle, forming sucking discs, which are a peculiar characteristic of this animal.

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

Though this is not properly an Indian animal, I have thought fit to include it as belonging to a border country in which much interest is taken, and which has as yet been imperfectly explored.

_GENUS CORSIRA_.

Of Gray, _Amphisorex_ of Duvernoy; differs in dentition from the last in having the lower quasi-incisors serrated with three or four coronal points, and the anterior point of the upper incisors not prolonged beyond the posterior spur, tipped with ferruginous; the lateral small teeth in the upper jaw are five in number, diminishing in size from the first backwards. Tail cylindrical, not tapering, and furnished with a stiffish brush at the extremity. The common British land-shrew is of this type.

NO. 148. CORSIRA ALPINA. _The Alpine Shrew_ (_Jerdon's No. 84_).

HABITAT.--Darjeeling.

DESCRIPTION.--Deep blackish brown, very slightly rufescent in certain lights; tail slender, nearly naked, very slightly attenuated, compressed at the tip.

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

This is identical with the European Alpine shrew; the _Sorex caudatus_ of Horsfield's Catalogue (No. 148), which was a specimen named by Hodgson, is also the same animal.

_GENUS ANUROSOREX_.

Remarkably for its large head, nude, scaly extremities, and extremely short, nude, scaly tail. "The structure of the ear, limbs and tail has special reference to a burrowing animal--the ear being valvular, so that it may be effectually closed against the entrance of foreign substances, and the feet devoid of hair, but scaly, and the tail reduced to very small dimensions. The eye is also excessively small, and buried deep in the dense silky fur. The hind feet, contrary to what is almost invariably the case in burrowing mammals, are larger than the fore feet."--_Anderson_.

NO. 149. ANUROSOREX ASSAMENSIS. _The Assam Burrowing Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Assam, Thibet.

DESCRIPTION.--General colour dark slaty, faintly washed with brownish rusty on the long hairs of the rump; fur long and silky, longest over the rump; occasional long brown hairs with pale tips are scattered over the body; long whiskers, yellow claws; naked parts of snout, limbs and tail flesh-coloured.

SIZE.--Head and body nearly 3 inches; tail, 1/2 inch; forefoot, 1/2 inch; hind foot, 3/4 inch.

The skull and dentition of this animal are essentially soricine. The Thibetan species (_A. squamipes_) is described as being over four inches in length, of a greyish colour, with a greenish-brown tinge; feet and nails whitish. It lives in burrows which it digs in the earth. I think it should properly come after the moles, which it resembles in some particulars.

FAMILY ERINACEIDAE--THE HEDGEHOGS.

The molar teeth broad; the hinder ones nearly square, the tubercles on their upper surface rounded; the other teeth are three incisors on each side, of which the inner one is considerably larger than the rest; behind these, separated by a little gap, come three premolars gradually increasing in size, then one having much the appearance of a true molar, but furnished with a cutting edge; then three molar teeth, two of which are nearly square with strong tubercles. The last molar is small. In the lower jaw the lowermost incisor is very large, and projects almost horizontally forwards, and it is followed by three small teeth now acknowledged to be premolars, with another large premolar, which is of the nature of a carnassial or cutting tooth acting on the one in the upper jaw. Then three molars as above, two large and one small, but with sharp tubercles. The skull has a more carnivorous form; it has "a complete zygomatic arch, and the tympanic bone forms a bundle-like swelling on each side of the back of the skull." Feet pentadactylous or five-toed; legs very short. The tibia and fibula (two bones of the shank) are joined together. The back is clothed with hair intermixed with sharp spines or bristles. Tail short or wanting entirely.

[Figure: Dentition of Hedgehog.]

_GENUS ERINACEUS_.

The European hedgehog is well known to most of us. Few boys who have lived a country life have been without one at some time or other as a pet. I used to keep mine in a hole at the root of an old apple-tree, which was my special property, and they were occasionally brought into the house at the cook's request to demolish the black-beetles in the kitchen. These they devour with avidity and pursue them with the greatest ardour. They also eat slugs, worms, and snails; worms they seize and eat from end to end, like a Neapolitan boy with a string of maccaroni, slowly masticating, the unconsumed portion being constantly transferred from one side of the mouth to the other, so that both sides of the jaws may come into play. Dr. Dallas quaintly remarks on the process: "This must be an unpleasant operation for the worm, much as its captor may enjoy it." Toads, frogs, mice, and even snakes are eaten by the European hedgehog. It would be interesting to find out whether the Indian hedgehog also attacks snakes; even the viper in Europe is devoured by this animal, who apparently takes little heed of its bite. The European species also eats eggs when it can get them, and I have no doubt does much damage to those birds who make their nests on the ground.

Few dogs will tackle a hedgehog, for the little creature at once rolls itself into a spiny ball, all sharp prickles, by means of the contraction of a set of cutaneous muscles, the most important of which, the _orbicularis panniculi_, form a broad band encircling the body which draws together the edges of the spiny part of the skin. There is a most interesting account of the mechanism of the spines in Mr. F. Buckland's notes to White's 'Natural History of Selborne,' vol. ii., page 76. A jet of water poured on to the part within which the head is concealed will make the creature unroll, and it is said that foxes and some dogs have discovered a way of applying this plan, and also that foxes will roll a hedgehog into a ditch or pond, and thus make him either expose himself to attack or drown. Gipsies eat hedgehogs, and consider them a delicacy--the meat being white and as tender as a chicken (not quite equal to porcupine, I should say); they cook them by rolling them in clay, and baking them till the clay is dry; when the ball is broken open the prickles come off with the crust.

[Figure: Hedgehog.]

Hedgehogs have had several popular fallacies concerning them. They were supposed to suck cows dry during the night and to be proof against poisons. Mr. Frank Buckland tried prussic acid on one with fatal results, but he says the bite of a viper seemed to have no effect. Pallas, I know, has remarked that hedgehogs will eat hundreds of cantharides beetles with impunity, whereas one or two will cause extreme agony to a cat or dog. The female goes with young about seven weeks, and she has from three to eight in number. The little ones when born have soft spines--which, however, soon harden--are blind, and, with the exception of the rudimentary prickles, quite naked. They are white at birth, but in about a month acquire the colour of the mother.

NO. 150. ERINACEUS COLLARIS. _The Collared Hedgehog_ (_Jerdon's No. 85_).

HABITAT.--Northern India and Afghanistan. Dallas says from Madras to Candahar; but Jerdon calls it the North Indian hedgehog, and assigns to it the North-west, Punjab, and Sind, giving Southern India to the next species.

DESCRIPTION.--Spines irregularly interwoven, ringed with white and black, with yellowish tips, or simply white and black, or black with a white ring in the middle; ears large; chin white; belly and legs pale brown.

SIZE.--Head and body, 8 to 9 inches; tail, 7/12 inch.

I have found this species in the Punjab near Lahore. One evening, whilst walking in the dusk, a small animal, which I took to be a rat, ran suddenly between my legs. Now I confess to an antipathy to rats, and, though I would not willingly hurt any animal, I could not resist an impulsive kick, which sent my supposed rat high in the air. I felt a qualm of conscience immediately afterwards, and ran to pick up my victim, and was sorry to find I had perpetrated such an assault on an unoffending little hedgehog, which was however only stunned, and was carried off by me to the Zoological Gardens. Captain Hutton writes of them that they feed on beetles, lizards, and snails; "when touched they have the habit of suddenly jerking up the back with some force so as to prick the fingers or mouth of the assailant, and at the same time emitting a blowing sound, not unlike the noise produced when blowing upon a flame with a pair of bellows." He also says they are very tenacious of life, bearing long abstinence with apparent ease; when alarmed they roll themselves up into a ball like the European species.

Hutton also remarks that _E. collaris_, on hearing a noise, jerks the skin and quills of its neck completely over its head, leaving only the tip of the nose free.

NO. 151. ERINACEUS MICROPUS. _The Small-footed Hedgehog_ (_Jerdon's No. 86_).

HABITAT.--South India.

DESCRIPTION.--"Ears moderately large; form somewhat elongated; tail very short, concealed; feet and limbs very small; head and ears nude, sooty-coloured; belly very thinly clad with yellowish hairs; spines ringed dark brown and whitish, or whitish with a broad brown sub-terminal ring, tipped white."--_Jerdon_.

SIZE.--Head and body about 6 inches. Dr. Anderson considers this as identical with _E. collaris_.

NO. 152. ERINACEUS PICTUS. _The Painted Hedgehog_.

HABITAT.--Central India, Goona, Ulwar, Agra, Kurrachee.

DESCRIPTION.--Similar to the above, but the tips of the spines are more broadly white, and the brown bands below not so dark; the ears are somewhat larger than _micropus_, and the feet narrower and not so long.

NO. 153. ERINACEUS GRAYI.

HABITAT.--North-west India.

DESCRIPTION.--The general colour is blackish-brown; the spines are narrowly tipped with black, succeeded by a narrowish yellow band; then a blackish-brown band, the rest of the spine being yellowish; the broad dark-brown band is so strongly developed as to give the animal its dark appearance when viewed from the side; some animals are, however, lighter than others. The feet are large; the fore-feet broad, somewhat truncated, with moderately long toes and powerful claws.

SIZE.--Head and body about 6-3/4 inches.

NO. 154. ERINACEUS BLANFORDI (_Anderson_).

HABITAT.--Sind, where one specimen was obtained by Mr. W. T. Blanford, at Rohri.

DESCRIPTION.--Muzzle rather short, not much pointed; ears moderately large, but broader than long, and rounded at the tips; feet larger and broader than in the next species, with the first toe more largely developed than in the last. The spines meet in a point on the forehead, and there is no bare patch on the vertex. Each spine is broadly tipped with deep black, succeeded by a very broad yellow band, followed by a dusky brown base; fur deep brown; a few white hairs on chin and anterior angle of ear.

SIZE.--Head and body, 5.36 inches.

NO. 155. ERINACEUS JERDONI (_Anderson_).

HABITAT.--Sind, Punjab frontier.

DESCRIPTION.--Muzzle moderately long and pointed; ears large, round at tip and broad at base; feet large, especially the fore-feet; claws strong. The spines begin on a line with the anterior margins of the ears; large nude area on the vertex; spines with two white and three black bands, beginning with a black band. When they are laid flat the animal looks black; but an erection the white shows and gives a variegated appearance.

SIZE.--Head and body about 7-1/2 inches.

NO. 156. ERINACEUS MEGALOTIS. _The Large-eared Hedgehog_.

HABITAT.--Afghanistan.

More information is required about this species. Jerdon seems to think it may be the same as described by Pallas (_E. auritus_), which description I have before me now ('Zoographica Rosso Asiatica,' vol. i. page 138), but I am unable to say from comparison that the two are identical--the ears and the muzzle are longer than in the common hedgehog. This is the species which he noticed devouring blistering beetles with impunity. It has a very delicate fur of long silky white hairs, covering the head, breast and abdomen, "forming also along the sides a beautiful ornamental border" (_Horsfield_, from a specimen brought from Mesopotamia by Commander Jones, I.N.)

The space to which I am obliged to limit myself will not allow of my describing at greater length; but to those of my readers who are interested in the Indian hedgehogs, I recommend the paper by Dr. J. Anderson in the 'Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal' for 1878, page 195, with excellently drawn plates of the heads, skulls and feet of the various species. There is one peculiarity which he notices regarding the skull of _E. collaris_ (or, as he calls it, _micropus_): the zygomatic arch is not continuous as in the other species, but is broken in the middle, the gap being caused by the absence of the _malar_ or cheek-bone. In this respect it resembles, though Dr. Anderson does not notice it, the _Centetidae_ or _Tanrecs_ of Madagascar.

Dr. Anderson's classification is very simple and good. He has two groups: the first, containing _E. micropus_ and _E. pictus_, is distinguished by the _second upper premolar simple, one-fanged, the feet club-shaped; soles tubercular_. The second group, containing _E. Grayi_, _E. Blanfordi_ and _E. Jerdoni_, has _the second upper premolar compound, three-fanged, and the feet well developed and broad_. The first group has also a division or bare area on the vertex; the second has not.

FAMILY HYLOMIDAE (_Anderson_).

The following little animal has affinities to both _Erinaceidae_ and _Tupaiidae_, and therefore it may appropriately be placed here. Dr. Anderson on the above ground has placed it in a separate family, otherwise it is generally classed with the _Erinaceidae_. Its skull has the general form of the skull of _Tupaia_, but in its imperfect orbit, in the rudiment of a post-orbital process, and in the absence of any imperfections of the zygomatic arch and in the position of the lachrymal foramen it resembles the skull of _Erinaceus_. The teeth are 44 in number: Inc., 3--3/3--3; can., 1--1/1--1; premolars, 4--4/4--4; molars, 3--3/3--3, and partake of the character of both _Tupaia_ and _Erinaceus_. The shank-bones being united and the rudimentary tail create an affinity to the latter, whilst its arboreal habits are those of the former.

_GENUS HYLOMYS_.

Head elongate; ears round; feet arboreal, naked below; tail semi-nude; pelage not spiny.

NO. 157. HYLOMYS PEGUENSIS. _The Short-tailed Tree-Shrew_.

HABITAT.--Burmah, Pegu, Ponsee in the Kakhyen hills.

Appears to be identical with the species from Borneo (_H. suillus_).

FAMILY TUPAIIDAE.

These interesting little animals were first accurately described about the year 1820, though, as I have before stated, it was noticed in the papers connected with Captain Cook's voyages, but was then supposed to be a squirrel. Sir T. Stamford Raffles writes: "This singular little animal was first observed tame in the house of a gentleman at Penang, and afterwards found wild at Singapore in the woods near Bencoolen, where it lives on the fruit of the kayogadis, &c." Another species, _T. Javanica_, had, however, been discovered in Java fourteen years before, but not published till 1821. They are sprightly little creatures, easily tamed, and, not being purely insectivorous, are not difficult to feed in captivity. Sir T. S. Raffles describes one that roamed freely all over the house, presenting himself regularly at meal-times for milk and fruit. Dr. Sal. Muller describes the other species (_T. Javanica_) as a confiding, simple little animal, always in motion, seeking its food at one time amongst dry leaves and moss on the ground, and again on the stems and branches of trees, poking its nose into every crevice. Its nest, he says, is formed of moss at some height from the ground, supported on clusters of orchideous plants. Dr. Cantor, in his 'Catalogue of the Mammalia of the Malayan Peninsula,' writes as follows: "In a state of nature it lives singly or in pairs, fiercely attacking intruders of its own species. When several are confined together they fight each other, or jointly attack and destroy the weakest. The natural food is mixed insectivorous and frugivorous. In confinement, individuals may be fed exclusively on either, though preference is evinced for insects; and eggs, fish and earth-worms are equally relished. A short, peculiar, tremulous, whistling sound, often heard by calls and answers in the Malayan jungle, marks their pleasurable emotions, as for instance on the appearance of food, while the contrary is expressed by shrill protracted cries. Their disposition is very restless, and their great agility enables them to perform the most extraordinary bounds in all directions, in which exercise they spend the day, till night sends them to sleep in their rudely-constructed lairs in the highest branches of trees. At times they will sit on their haunches, holding their food between their forelegs, and after feeding they smooth the head and face with both fore-paws, and lick the lips and palms. They are also fond of water, both to drink and to bathe in. The female usually produces one young."

The above description reminds one forcibly of the habits of squirrels, so it is no wonder that at one time these little creatures were confounded with the _Sciuridae_.

_GENUS TUPAIA_.