BY T. HARVEY JOHNSTON. 75 



Davainea himantopodis, n.sp. 



from 11 nHaiitopns leacocephalus Gould. 



(Plate vi.) 



My colleague at the Bureau, Dr. Cleland, recently col- 

 lected some entozoa from a White-headed Stilt, Ilimantojms 

 huroccplKilus Gould, shot at Tailem Bend, Murray River, 

 South Australia. Amongst them, were a few very small 

 cestodes, measuring a little over 1 mm. in length. Amongst 

 the intestinal contents of the bird, I found several ripe, free 

 segments belonging to the same species. 



The Scolex. — The scolex is rounded in general shape, and 

 is marked off from the rest of the strobila by a constriction, 

 almost immediately behind which segmentation begins. The 

 dimensions are: length (excluding rostellum) 0115 mm.; 

 breadth 0-146 mm., the broadest part being behind the 

 suckers. Situated in the anterior portion, are the suckers, 

 which are only moderately developed, having a diameter of 

 about 003 mm. The openings are directed anteriorly or 

 antero-laterally. Around the margin of each there is 

 arranged a row of small hooks, 0005 mm. long, which are 

 readily lost in dead specimens. Their form could not be 

 clearly distinguished. On the apex of the scolex there is a 

 cuplike depression in which there lies a protractile rostellum. 

 The rostellum is 0-034 mm. long, and has a broader, rounded, 

 free extremity carrying the hooks, connected with the scolex 

 by a narrower, short, stalk-like portion. The maximum 

 breadth of the rostelhim is 003 mm. Surrounding it there is 

 a double row of small hooks about 0007 mm. in length (i.e., 

 from the ventral to the dorsal root), and possessing the 

 hammer-form typical in the genus Dnvainea. The claw is 

 relatively powerful. There are about 25 hooks in each row 

 (Fig.3). 



SfrohiI(i.—As previously mentioned, segmentation follows 

 almost immediately behind the head, consequently an un- 

 segmented neck is practically absent. Most of the tapes ex- 

 amined possessed seven or eight segments. Their general form 



