vin. PHEASANT REARING (PART VII} 123 



The only possible method of combating an epi- 

 demic of gapes amongst young pheasants is to kill all 

 the birds that have the worst symptoms, and to burn 

 their bodies as well as the bodies of any that die of 

 the disease ; merely burying them only makes matters 

 worse and spreads contagion. 



Having destroyed the more hopeless cases, trans- 

 port the remaining birds at once to fresh ground, and 

 do all you can by encouraging them to feed well on 

 live food, such as maggots, or ants' eggs, to sustain 

 their strength and consequent ability to eject the 

 worms. 



Though a bad attack of gapes is usually fatal to 

 very young, chicles, yet if the disease appears when 

 the birds are of good size, they will sometimes be 

 able to cough up the worms and afterwards recover. 



In many districts, especially in those composed of 

 light sandy soil, gapes are unknown ; but if you dread 

 the gapes, or have any suspicion the disease may 

 break out, or if you are aware it has ever appeared 

 near where your young birds are reared, there is only 

 one course to pursue, and that is to give to each coop 

 daily a small saucer of fresh water strongly flavoured 

 with camphor.* 



* I am honest enough to confess I know nothing about the gapes ' 

 (who indeed does ?) ; it is a fickle disease, truly. I have known it 

 occur annually at one end of a rearing field, but never at the other 

 end. I have seen three coops affected in a row of twenty, and yet 

 the others escape scot-free. Whether the disease is the result of a 

 bird falling into a poor state of health, or whether the health is 



