The cinereous shrew seems to be less restricted to the vicinity of streams and marshes than Sorex vagrans, resembling Sorex obscurus and Sorex trowbridgii in this respect. In Washington it seems to be rare and has not been taken by the writer. Published records for Sorex c. cinereus indicate that this race is, in Washington, confined to mountainous areas. The coastal race, streatori, seems to be confined to the humid area.
Sorex cinereus cinereus Kerr
Sorex arcticus cinereus Kerr. Anim. Kingd., p. 206, 1792.
Sorex cinereus cinereus Jackson. Jour. Mamm., 6: 56, February 9, 1925.
Type.—None. Name based on the account of a shrew seen at Fort Severn, Canada, by J. R. Forster in 1772.
Racial characters.—Small size and pale color.
Measurements.—Seven males and 8 females from Indian Point Lake, British Columbia, average, respectively: total length 99, 95; length of tail 43.5, 42.2; hind foot 12.7, 12.3.
Distribution.—Northeastern Washington (Metaline and Loon Lake, [Jackson], 1928: 49) and the Cascades from Whatcom Pass ([Jackson], 1928: 55) southward to Conrad Meadows ([Jackson], 1928: 49). There is a specimen in the collection of the California Academy of Sciences, from Mt. Rainier.
Remarks.—This is the most wide-ranging subspecies of shrew, being recorded from Alaska, 10 Canadian provinces and 26 states ([Jackson], 1928: 46-50). In the more northern and eastern parts of its range it is sometimes the commonest shrew.