Order MALLOPHAGA. 



This order contains the "biting lice," infesting warm-blooded animals 

 generally, but so commonly found on birds that the term "bird-lice" has 

 come to be generally used for them. They do not suck blood, the mouth 

 parts being formed for biting only, but live among the hair and feathers 

 of their hosts, subsisting upon what they can scrape from the surface. 

 While they do not actually puncture the skin or feed on living tissue, 

 they gnaw the soft material at the base of hair and feathers, eat the 

 particles of dry scurf, the clotted blood at the edge of a scratch or other 

 wound, and create a more or less constant irritation, which is likely to 

 result in a loss of hair or plumage and a consequent mangy appearance. 

 I have seen ill kept dairy cattle with patches bare of hair from this cause. 

 In shape these parasites are flattened, elongate oval, with a large obtuse 

 head, and often bulging eye prominences. The eggs are attached to hair 

 or feathers, and the young resemble the adults in general appearance,, 

 there being no obvious transformations. Practically all birds, wild as 

 well as domesticated, are infested, and in this list Prof. Herbert Osborn,. 

 of the Ohio State University, who has been good enough to aid me in its 

 preparation, has indicated all the species whose host is known to occur in 

 New Jersey; for where the host occurs the parasite is almost sure to be 

 found when sought. 



The list as it stands contains just one hundred species. It is probable 

 that a few of these will never be found, either because the birds them- 

 selves are very occasional visitors, e. g., the Pelicans, or because the distri- 

 bution of the parasite is really a very limited one. On the other hand,, 

 only a small proportion of our wild birds have been closely examined, and 

 it is at least probable that a large percentage of those from which no 

 parasites are yet reported will be found to be infested. So I believe that 

 the list will be increased rather than lessened as th-e result of future work. 



Remedial measures for domesticated birds are plenty of dust, with 

 which they may thoroughly powder themselves, and the free use of white- 

 wash and crude petroleum in chicken and other fowl-houses. Horses and 

 cattle may be thoroughly brushed occasionaly with a stiff brush dipped 

 from time to time in crude petroleum. Kerosene must not be used, because 

 it is likely to take out the hair. Where its application is convenient on 

 small birds, carbolated vaseline can be employed to good advantage. On 

 other animals carbolated soaps, miscible oils and other materials of that 

 character may be used, and, in general, the amount of success is in pro- 

 - portion to the determination and persistence of the person making the 

 application. 



Family PHILOPTERID^. 



The antennse are filiform, five-jointed, exposed; the tarsi have two claws,, 

 and all the species are parasitic on birds. 



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