FEATHER LICE I5I 



support Lowe's theory that the woodpecker should not be placed in a 

 separate order. It has been suggested that if the habit of anting by 

 birds helps to rid them of lice, the green woodpecker, as a frequent 

 visitor to ants' nests, should be less heavily parasitised than the other 

 woodpeckers ; this has not been found to be the case. 



CUGULIFORMES 



Genera of Mallophaga recorded in Britain : Cuculiphilus (Ambly- 



cera); Cuculicola, Cuculoecus (Ischnocera). 



The method of dispersal and other interesting points connected with 

 the lice of the cuckoo, a brood parasite, have already been discussed. 

 Another curious fact is that the Mallophaga of the cuckoo — superficially 

 so like a hawk and also mobbed by other birds — belong to genera which 

 are either the same or apparently closely related to those found on the 

 hawks. At the present time we cannot say what the significance oi 

 this fact may be, but when considering the Mallophaga only, the 

 parasitologist is reminded of the words of Pliny : " The cuckoo seems 

 to be but another form of hawk." 



Strigiformes 

 Genera of Mallophaga recorded in Britain : Colpocephalwn, 

 Kurodaia (Amblycera) ; Strigiphilus (Ischnocera). 



The members of this order in Great Briatin are parasitised by only 

 three genera of lice, one belonging to the Ischnocera, and two to the 

 Amblycera. Owls, like hawks, may also have a temporary population 

 of lice which have straggled from their prey. A short-eared owl from 

 S. Uist was infested with five specimens of lice belonging to three 

 different genera which must have come from a wader it had recently 

 killed. 



Falconiformes 



Genera of Mallophaga recorded in Britain : Colpocephalunif 



Kurodaidj Laemobothrion (Amblycera); Degeeriella, Falcolipeurus, 



Craspedorrhynchus (Ischnocera) . 



The British hawks are usually parasitised by two species of Ischno- 

 cera, one a typical head louse, the other belonging to a more primitive, 



