Vol. XXXVI 

 1919 



Correspondence. 147 



September, 1918. (Issued, September 24, October 26 and November 25, 

 respectively.) 



Philippine Journal of Science, XIII, Sect. D, Nos. 4 and 5, July and 

 September, 1918. 



Proceedings Acad. Nat. Sciences, Philadelphia, LXX, Part II, May- 

 October, 1918. 



Revue Francaise d' Ornithologie, No. 112-113, August-September, 1918. 



Science, N. S., Nos. 1238-1250. 



Scottish Naturalist, The, Nos. 79-80, 81 and 82, July-August, Septem- 

 ber and October, 1918. 



South Australian Ornithologist, The, III, Part 8, October, 1918. 



Wilson, Bulletin, The, XXX, No. 3, September, 1918. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



Maggot Infested Birds. 



Editor of ' The Auk ' : 



Since beginning the operating of my hospital for the care and treatment 

 of injured wild birds, some three or four years ago, my attention has fre- 

 quently been called to the number of birds suffering from the presence of 

 maggots in some of the external parts of the body. The number of avian 

 sufferers has increased so greatly this season over previous years, and there 

 seems to be so little known about the fly producing these worms, that I 

 feel impelled to present my observations to the readers of 'The Auk' in 

 the hopes that a complete history of the fly may be furnished by some one. 



The victims seem to be confined almost exclusively to the smaller birds, 

 Yellow Warblers, Goldfinches, House Finches, Horned Larks, Vireos, 

 and the House Sparrows in particular, and are fledglings, scarcely an adult 

 coming to the hospital. A few Western Meadowlarks have been brought 

 to me, two specimens — fledglings - — yielding one hundred worms, their 

 bodies presenting the appearance of having been struck by a load of shot. 

 The largest number of these worm-infested creatures come from the homes 

 of the House Sparrow. A friend reported that a litter of infant pigs were 

 invaded by the fly and three of them died from the presence of the maggots 

 burrowing into the brain through the eyes. It is reported also that a bird- 

 devouring cat fell victim to the worms. 



The favorite location selected by the fly to deposit its eggs and young, — 

 for the young evidently hatches in the act of deposit in the soft tissues of the 

 bird and immediately burrows beneath the surface, — is on the head, near 

 or in the corner of the eyes, about the neck and upper part of the wings, 



