So small a body as that of the Shrew does not appear to require much food to keep it going; but the character of the food counts, and apparently insects are not very sustaining. The insect-eater must pursue his prey almost incessantly. We have proofs of this in the ceaseless activity of insectivorous birds, the Mole, the Bats, and the Hedgehog--all insectivorous. Mr. Adams found that, in captivity, a Shrew would gorge for half an hour, then have to sleep for a similar period before renewing its feeding with the same energy. In this case the food was all provided and had not to be chased; and the Shrew was willing to eat the flesh and pick the bones of one of its own kind. In thirty-six hours it consumed food of various kinds equal to nearly four times its own weight. If food is not obtainable for a few hours, the Shrew dies. This excessive demand of the stomach causes the Shrew to be active both night and day. It is fond of carrion, and has frequently fallen a victim to traps baited with bread, cheese, nuts or apple; and, as Mr. Pocock reports, with plum-pudding. He sleeps with the long flexible snout tucked between the forelegs under the chest. The Shrew's dental formula is i _4/2, c 1/0, p 2/1, m 3/3 = 32_. The summits of the teeth are red-brown, and the almost horizontal lower incisors are encircled by those of the upper jaw. The Common Shrew is found throughout Great Britain but not in Ireland. Its vertical range is from sea-level certainly to 1500 feet, at which height it has been found in Cheshire by Coward and Oldham. It probably goes higher in our mountain regions, for on the Continent it has been recorded at 6000 feet. It is active all the winter among the dead leaves in some thick hedgerow, where it searches for hibernating insects which are plentiful in such covers. The rambler at this season may have his attention called to the Shrew by its shrill squeak, but like that of the Bats it does not impress all ears. A form found in the Isle of Islay has been separated as a distinct species under the name of _Sorex granti_. It is strange that so inoffensive a creature should have been the subject of superstitious malignity in the past. It was reputed to cause lameness by merely running over the foot of man or beast, and as an antidote a Shrew was plugged into a hole bored in an ash tree from which thereafter a twig passed over the afflicted part would effect a cure. Readers of Gilbert White will remember his description of the Shrew-ash that formerly stood "at the south corner of the plestor" at Selborne. The evil reputation of the Shrew was much more ancient than White's day, for the Rev. Edward Topsell, who wrote a "Historie of Four-footed Beastes" (1607), says of it--"It is a ravening beast, feigning itself gentle and tame, but, being touched, it biteth deep and poysoneth deadly. It beareth a cruel minde, desiring to hurt anything, neither is there any creature that it loveth, or it loveth him, because it is feared of all."