NOTES. 229 



facts of the occurrence, he corroborated in every respect 

 the original statements of the Rev. J. G. Tuck and Mr. W. 

 Eagle Clarke ; and, in case any sceptic may proffer a sug- 

 gestion that it was an imported skin, my informant added 

 that he remembers his father bringing home the bird, telling 

 him he had found it below the telegraph wires, and at the 

 same time pointing out where it had been damaged by coming 

 in contact with them. For further particulars enquirers are 

 referred to " The Birds of Yorkshire," pp. 38-39. 



T. H. Nelson. 



GROUSE-DISEASE. 



Drs. Seligmann and Sambon, in the " Lancet" for September 

 21st, describe a parasite from the blood of a Red Grouse which 

 they have named Lcucocytozoon lovati. This they found within 

 a curious spherical envelope drawn out at each pole into a long 

 thread. Though they are unable to determine definitely the 

 nature of this investing sheath, they are of opinion that it is 

 formed by a blood corpuscle, since a dark body, apparently 

 representing the nucleus of the corpuscle, is found beneath 

 the parasite. Since a similar parasite has been found in the 

 turkey and guinea-fowl, it seems improbable that this new 

 species has any connection with Grouse-disease, though the bird 

 which furnished the specimen was sent to Dr. Seligmann as 

 having died of this mysterious plague. Rather we suspect that 

 Grouse-disease will be found to be due to some Trypanosome. 

 Dr. Sambon, in examining another grouse sent to Dr. 

 Seligmann by the Grouse-disease Commission, found in the 

 blood a filiarian, which represents the first record of this 

 parasite in the Red Grouse. A short account of his discovery 

 will be found in the " Journal of Tropical Medicine " for 

 September 16th. 



THE MOVEMENT OF THE BEAK IN SNIPE. 



The October number of the " Ibis " contains a paper by Mr. 

 W. H. Workman on the curious faculty possessed by the Snipe, 

 Woodcock, and allied birds, of moving upwards the extreme 

 tip of the upper jaw, while the rest of the beak, as a whole, is 

 closed, and this he illustrates by a diagrammatic figure. 

 Mr. Workman does not appear to know, and the editors of the 

 " Ibis " appear to have forgotten, that a paper on this subject 

 by Mr. W. P. Pycraft was published in the " Ibis " for 1893 ! 

 Mr. Workman's observations add nothing new to our knowledge 

 of this matter, but it is interesting to note that his suggestion 

 as to the purpose of this curious movement is exactly the same 

 as that given in the article referred to above. 



