156 FLEAS, FLUKES AND CUCKOOS 



rails, but has been taken from the coot in Morocco, India and the U.S.A. 

 the moorhen in Uganda and the Sudan. This is an example of geo- 

 graphical as opposed to the more usual host distribution of a parasite. 



Galliformes 



Genera of Mallophaga recorded in Britain : Menacanthus, Amyr- 



sidea, Menopon (Amblycera); Cuclotogaster^ Lipeurus, Oxylipeurus^ 



LagopoecuSj Goniocotes, Goniodes (Ischnocera). 



The game-birds of Britain harbour species of nine different genera 

 of Mallophaga. Not all of these are found on any one of the game- 

 birds, five being the greatest number of species recorded from a single 

 host. Pheasants, because they are frequently reared under hens, may be 

 infested with lice of their foster-parents. These birds, introduced into 

 Britain probably by the Romans, harbour exactly the same species of 

 Mallophaga as the wild pheasants of Afghanistan — a case where the 

 parasite is unaffected by the geographical locality in which the host is 

 found. The same may be said about t^e domestic hen which harbours 

 a similar species of Goniodes to the wild jungle fowl. The fleas, on the 

 other hand, which infect game birds in Britain, are species which 

 they have acquired in temperate climates. 



Conclusion 



It will have become evident while reading these pages that our 

 ignorance of the feather lice is abysmal. What we do not know far 

 exceeds what we know. Their biology particularly requires investiga- 

 tion. Lice cannot be kept alive off the host except in an incubator at 

 the right temperature and humidity, and a supply of fresh feathers of the 

 appropriate host must be available. Providing these conditions can be 

 fulfilled the solution of a large number of problems could be attempted. 

 These relate to life history, food preferences, host specificity, and the 

 louse in relation to its environment in general. More information is 

 also needed concerning the morphology, distribution and the particular 

 habitats of the lice on any one bird, distribution of lice on the same host 

 species in different geographical areas, and distribution on the different 

 host species within one order of birds. The student who intends working 



