Bendire water shrews are restricted to the Pacific Coast of North America from southern British Columbia to northern California. Generally they are found at elevations lower than are mountain water shrews. They are typically mammals of the humid division of the Transition Life-zone but often occur in the Canadian Life-zone. They occupy marshes, swamps, damp ravines, and the banks of slow-moving streams. Little is known of their habits, except what has been deduced from the circumstances of their capture. They seem less aquatic than the mountain water shrew. Near Jackson Guard Station on the Hoh River, Jefferson County, one was taken by setting traps on dense beds of water cress that floated in a slow-moving stream. The animal must have swum or walked on the surface of the mat of vegetation. Near Paradise Lake, King County, several were caught in a deep, dark, red cedar swamp. One was caught in a marsh nearby. Nothing is known of the food habits of the Bendire water shrew. =Sorex bendirii bendirii= (Merriam) _Atophyrax bendirii_ Merriam, Trans. Linn. Soc. New York, 2:217, August 28, 1884. _Atophyrax Bendirei_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7 (1884):606, 1885. _Sorex bendirii_ Dobson, Monog. Insectivora, part 3, fasc. 1, pl. 23, 1890. _Neosorex bendirii bendirii_ Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 79:22, December 31, 1912. _Type._--Obtained approximately 1 mile from Williamson River, 18 miles southeast of Fort Klamath, Klamath County, Oregon, by C. C. Bendire on August 1, 1882; type in United States National Museum. _Racial characters._--Underparts everywhere sooty black. _Measurements._--Ten males and 10 females from southwestern Washington average, respectively: total length 163.9, 161.0; length of tail 71.0, 72.6; hind foot 20.5, 20.3; weight 16.8, 14.5 grams. _Distribution._--The southern Cascades and the lowlands of western Washington, exclusive of the Olympic Peninsula. Marginal localities on the west include Mt. Vernon (Jackson, 1928: 196), Bothell (W.S.M.), Renton (M.V.Z.), Puyallup (W.W.D.), Steilacoom (Jackson, 1928: 196) and Oakville (Jackson, 1928: 196). =Sorex bendirii albiventer= Merriam _Sorex (Atophyrax) bendirii albiventer_ Merriam, N. Amer. Fauna, 10:97, December 31, 1895. _Neosorex bendirii albiventer_ Miller, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull., 79:22, December 31, 1912. _Sorex bendirii albiventer_ Jackson, N. Amer. Fauna, 51:198, July 24, 1928. _Type._--Obtained at Lake Cushman, Mason County, Washington, by C. P. Streator on July 7, 1894; type in United States National Museum. _Racial characters._--Area on abdomen whitish. _Measurements._--A male from near the type locality measures: total length 167; length of tail 69; hind foot 22. One from Potlatch, Mason County, measures 167; 69; 22.