26 



parasite sucks the blood of its victim and one of tbeiti 

 may remove quite an appreciable quantity. It is es 

 pecially hard on young chickens and turkeys and on 

 setting hens. In the former case, by preventing rest 

 at night and by removing blood from the weak and 

 growing bird, it produces weakness and sometimes 

 death. In the latter case, by constantly disturbing the 

 setting hen during the night when she should have per- 

 fect rest, the annoyance may be so great that she will 

 be impelled to leave the nest and allow the eggs to be- 

 come chilled or in her endeaver to relieve herself of 

 the parasites, the eggs may be broken. The remedies 

 to be employed to destroy these parasites are similar 

 to those employed for destroying bird lice. But in 

 this case the disinfection and cleansing of the sur- 

 roundings are of even greater importance. Special 

 pains should be employed to introduce whatever dis- 

 infecting solution is used into all cracks and spaces 

 where these parasites might lodge. Carbolic acid so- 

 lution (1 to 20) especiall valuable for this purpose, and 

 if a good treatment of the building with it is followed 

 by the application of whitewash the insets can be 

 tlioTOughly eradicated. 



Tlie BIRD TICK (^Argas marginatus) \^ in sonic 

 respects similar to the parasite above described. It 

 is confined to pigeons. It is of an oval shape, of a 

 brownish color, and its head is located beneath the 

 body. It sucks the blood from its victim and some 

 times occures in such large numbei's that it destroys 

 pigeons in two weeks, producing death from exhaus 

 tion. It is found most frequently about the neck and 

 beneatli the breast, but it may also appear on other 

 parts of the body. Sometimes it passes to thcwe who 

 have to handle infested pigeons, and in these cases it 



