248 The Ruffed Grouse 



commented: ". . . reported rather generally distributed but few 

 specimens sent in." This may have been because the insects left the 

 birds quickly after death, and were not caught by the collectors. 

 Clarke ( 1936 ) reported a single case in Ontario. 



Nine scattered instances in eleven years were reported by the 

 New York study on adult grouse, and twenty-two cases in ten years 

 on chicks (N. Y. S. Cons. Dept. Ann. Reps., 1932-42). These are 

 blood-sucking flies, but no serious significance is attached to their 

 presence on grouse. 



Lice ( Mallophaga ) . Mallophagous insects of at least two species 

 are occasional on grouse. Allen and Gross (1926) reported several 

 on birds sent in during winter and spring. Clarke ( 1936 ) collected 

 them "... in numbers from many of the specimens taken at the 

 field stations." They were identified as Degeeriella camerata (Nitz). 



Of seventy-one occurrences of lice on adult grouse reported by 

 the New York study, all but one were in the period 1935 to 1937. 

 In 1936 the incidence was thirteen per cent. Only one case was re- 

 ported for chicks, that in 1935. Wliether this erratic occurrence is 

 actual, or the result of different methods of analysis is not clear. 

 It hardly seems that an infestation of this type would be so highly 

 erratic. 



Lice are a source of irritation to grouse but are not known to be 

 of any significance as a mortality factor. 



Fleas (Siphonaptera). Two grouse having fleas were reported by 

 Clarke ( 1936 ) . One of the parasites was identified as Ceratophyllus 

 species. No importance was attached to its occurrence. 



Mites (Acarina). Feather mites of the family Analgesidae, and 

 belonging to the genus Megninia, ". . . were found in greatly vary- 

 ing abundance on most of the specimens examined in the field. On 

 some young birds they were very numerous, but except as a possible 

 source of irritation, cannot be considered as of pathological impor- 

 tance." So reported Clarke (1936) concerning Ontario grouse. He 

 also recorded larvae of the mite Trombicula microti, of the family 

 Trombidiidae, on grouse, particularly in Algonquin Park, Ontario. 

 They were not found in great numbers, and were sporadic in occur- 

 rence. 



Air-sac mites {Cytoleichus nudus) were reported in seventeen 



