162 BULLETIN" 162, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



who has been making an extensive study of this subject for several 

 years, has contributed a condensed, but quite complete, report on 

 the diseases and parasites of the ruffed grouse, which I consider 

 important enough to quote almost verbatim. At least 6 infectious 

 diseases and about 25 parasites have been discovered in the examina- 

 tion of more than 2,000 birds received from a wide range extending 

 from Quebec to Virginia and westward to Minnesota. 



Among the infectious diseases he mentions enlargement of the 

 spleen, enteritis (unknown etiology), hepatitis (diseased liver, un- 

 known etiology), enterohepatitis (blackhead), aspergillosis (a fungus 

 disease chiefly of the respiratory system), and bird pox (an integu- 

 mentary disease, producing tumorlike growths, generally in the 

 region of the head and mouth). Following is Doctor Gross's report 

 on external parasites : 



" Bird lice are wingless ectoparasitic insects with mouth parts 

 adapted to biting, not sucking. They feed on parts of the feathers 

 and epidermal scales and when present in large numbers cause 

 severe irritation and considerable annoyance to the host. Lice 

 of the genus Gonicotes have been taken most frequently from New 

 England specimens. Grouse collected during the summer months 

 in southeastern New York were heavily infested with the louse 

 Esthiopterum perplexum. 



" Ticks of the species Haemaphy sails leporis-pallustris have been 

 taken from birds collected throughout the entire range of the ruffed 

 grouse. The heaviest infestations of the parasite were found among 

 grouse living in the heavily wooded sections of northern Maine and 

 along the Canadian Labrador coast. 



" The ticks generally attach themselves in the region of the head, 

 usually on the chin and skin around the eyes or on the nape, all 

 places where it is difficult for the host to dislodge them. The ticks 

 vary in size, depending on the relative quantity of sucked blood 

 they contain. Even a few ticks are a discomfort to the birds, and in 

 eases of heavy infestation they become a serious menace, decreasing 

 the vitality and resistance of the grouse and in certain rare cases 

 resulting in the death of the bird. Observers have reported that 

 entire broods of young grouse have been destroyed by ticks. 



" It has been demonstrated that the tick may serve as a carrier of 

 such diseases as tularemia, an infectious disease of rabbits, and since 

 the tick HaemapTiy sails leporis-pallustris is a common ectoparasite of 

 both the rabbit and the grouse it may thus eventually prove to be of 

 considerable importance in the life of the grouse. The ticks Haema- 

 physalis cinnabarlna and H. punctata punctata have also been taken 

 from ruffed grouse. 



" Live birds received from Canada and others collected in northern 

 Maine were found to be heavily infested with the northern fowl mite 



