214 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



taken place here and there. But extensive bleeding does not 

 occur in Strongylosis, or at any rate no indication of it has been 

 seen in any bird dissected. The reasons which lead to the belief 

 that there is always a loss of blood as a chronic symptom in 

 this disease are that the congestion is always present, and is 

 often excessive ; that a small amount of bleeding has been 

 seen, and that in some advanced cases there is every appearance 

 of anaemia or bloodlessness. In some birds the pale, bloodless, 

 fatty and degenerated aspect of the tissues of the internal 

 organs was most suggestive of anaemia, and of chronic blood 

 poisoning. 



It is possible to find quite a number of very healthy looking 

 birds of good weight and yet with a large number of Trichostron- 

 gylus and a considerable amount of villous reddening. This 

 is not surprising in such a disease as Strongylosis, which is 

 essentially a progressive ailment. Everything depends upon 

 the strength of the bird, and its power of resistance. There 

 is no doubt that some birds will retain their weight and continue 

 for some time in apparently perfect health, with a very great 

 number of Trichostrongylus in the caeca, and a considerable 

 amount of congestion. There is also little doubt that an observer 

 may be easily misled by a normal redness of the csecal lining 

 due to ordinary processes of digestion. This is especially the 

 case if the bird examined happens to have been in the middle of 

 this process at the moment of death, and if death occurs without 

 loss of blood. The digestive organs must all be more full of 

 blood at that time than at others, though in a bird like the 

 Grouse which eats all day long, the difference may be less marked 

 than it would be in ourselves or in birds of prey which feed at 

 intervals. 



The chief signs of a bad case of Strongylosis so far as the 

 caecum is concerned are : 



(1) An excessive number of the worms, which can be seen 

 stringing across between the lining membrane and the caked 

 contents of the gut, if the contents are fairly dry. If the 

 contents are moist by taking a small quantity of the gut 



