ANIMALS WHICH LIVE ON OR WITHIN GROUSE 203 



eight Protozoa have been described from the various tissues and 

 organs of the Grouse, so far only one, Coccidium avium, has 

 been associated with distinct virulent disease, and this parasite 

 causes the death of many young birds. In dealing with the 

 Protozoa it has proved quite impossible to avoid scientific and 

 technical terms, they are indeed the only words which exist for 

 describing the organisms in question. These terms have been 

 explained in the original Report of the Committee. 1 



ORDER I. LOBOSA. 

 XVII. Amoeba (Entamceba) lagopodis (Fantham, 1910). 



Specimens of amoebae have been found in the freshly deposited 

 droppings from Grouse, and presumably the amoebae came from their 

 alimentary canals. This amoeba has also been found in the rectum 

 but rarely. It has never been found in the contents of the small intes- 

 tine. Certain species of amoeba are pathogenic, and give rise to 

 dysentery and other disorders in man. There is no reason to believe 

 that the amoebae found in Grouse were the cause of disease such as that 

 known as " blackhead " in turkeys, which was formerly thought to 

 be due to an amoeba. It is now known that " blackhead " is a form of 

 Coccidiosis the so-called amoebae in turkeys being a stage in the 

 life history of a Coccidium. 



ORDER II. SPOROZOA. 



SUB-ORDER I. GREGARINIDA. 

 XVIII. Monocystis (sp). 



Some spores of a Gregarine, almost certainly those of Monocystis, 

 and probably of one of the species inhabiting the earthworm, have 

 been observed in Grouse. Grouse do not often eat earthworms ; in 

 fact there are, as a rule, few earthworms for them to eat on Grouse 

 moors, though this is not perhaps so true in the lowlands and in England 

 as further north. Where, however, earthworms abound, the soil is 

 full of gregarine spores which might easily be picked up by a Grouse. 

 They are but accidental parasites, and seem to cause no harm. We 

 have found them in the intestines of three birds. 



1 See also Fantham, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1910, pp. 672-722. 



