72 POULTRY DISEASES 



in color. It has a neck-like construction, just back of the 

 hooked, globe-shaped proboscis. Its proboscis is provided 

 with eight or nine rows of booklets. 



Life History. — This worm reproduces by laying eggs. The 

 intermediate host is certain fish, as the shrimp and cray 

 fish. Ducks become infested by eating fish infested by the 

 larval or cystic form. This parasite is probably rare in the 

 United States. 



FLUKES (Trematodes) 



The remaining group of worms which inhabit 

 the intestinal tract of birds belong to the order 

 of Trematodes and are commonly known as flukes. 



The flukes of birds are harbored for the most 

 part in the intestinal tract. If we are to judge 

 from reports, these worms are exceedingly rare 

 in this country. 



Notocotyle Verrucosum 



Perhaps the most common of the flukes is the 

 Notocotyle verrucosum. Its body is white or red- 

 dish white and from one-twelfth to one-fourth of 

 an inch long. Its body is an oblong oval in shape, 

 narrow in front and rounded behind. It is found 

 in the intestines, principally the cecum or blind 

 gut of chickens and ducks. 



No serious results have been attributed to the 

 flukes of poultry, although it is well known that 

 they cause serious maladies in other animals. 

 There have been three or four other similar worms 

 described which closely resemble this one. 



