CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN THE RED GROUSE 171 



No. 1675 was a youug bird of the year, shot in September, on the same moor 

 in Inverness-shire which produced No. 1681, and another similar specimen which 

 was not forwarded. All carae from a very dry, healthy, juniper-covered valley, 

 and all had appearances much resembling the disease known to poultry farmers 

 as "bumblefoot." 



No. 1918 was an old hen Grouse killed in Yorkshire, which weighed only 

 13f ounces, and was exceedingly thin. This bird had a swollen knee of the 

 same character as the above, and there was some evidence that it was an old 

 standing trouble, for the claws on the foot of the damaged limb were of an 

 abnormal length, whereas those on the foot of the sound leg were broken and 

 worn to stumps by the extra amount of wear and tear. The feathers of the 

 left undamaged leg were similarly much worn, whereas those on the damaged leg 

 were in good condition. The bird was suffering from Strongylosis, the cpeca 

 being very much congested and full of Trichostrongylus, and the villi very red. 

 There was an old blood-clot over the liver, which may have resulted from a 

 stray lead pellet, and the swelling of the knee joint in all probability should be 

 attributed to damage by another pellet which may have struck the bird at the 

 same time. In poultry farming " bumblefoot " is the name given to Bumble- 

 any form of abscess in the foot, and as the abnormal structure of the ^°°*' 

 Dorking's foot with its extra toe made this breed particularly liable to have 

 a suppurating corn or other accident of this nature, it was considered at one 

 time to be almost peculiar to that breed. 



It is evident, however, that in the Grouse which have been considered 

 above, and in the poultry affected with " bumblefoot," we have generally the 

 result of localised suppuration from septic infection, following upon some 

 small and unnoticed wound or damage such as a scratch or bruise. A " whitlow " 

 is exactly comparable to this affection in the toes, and a whitlow may be a 

 septic affection of the superficial or deeper tissues, and if of the latter, the 

 infection may spread to tendon sheaths, or even into the joints themselves, or 

 upw^ards between the muscles. 



In the Grouse above mentioned the suppuration is more or less localised, 

 and the pus, having no free exit, has become caseous in the lapse of time, 

 hence the firmness of the swellings. 



