166 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



pricked by shot. One of the quill feathers was cut through, evidently by a pellet, 

 and there were marks of shot in other quills. Blood was flowing from the mouth, 

 and an examination of the lungs showed that one of them had been torn by 

 shot so that many of the air-passages were full of blood. But the blood liberated 

 by the original wound had clotted in the lung and saved the bird from immediate 

 death. Had the bird been allowed to rest until this lung and its clot had healed 

 and become firmly cicatrised it would perhaps have recovered. Instead, however, 

 it was flushed and forced to take flight. This broke down the freshly formed 

 clot, and the bird died of secondary haemorrhage. There was in addition to this a 

 very large clot round the liver, showing that a pellet had entered this organ 

 also. This case is a very good example of what has certainly been described 

 in former years as the sudden death of birds from acute disease, which strikes 

 them down in the pride of health in full flight and excellent condition. It is 

 also a very remarkable case of long survival after serious damage caused by 

 shot wounds. 



No. 1260 was an adult cock Grouse of 19 ounces, found dead on January 

 3rd, 1908, in Argyllshire. 



This bird had been badly sprinkled with shot some time before its death 

 at least a couple of months, judging by appearances. That it should have 

 survived at all is extraordinary. 



Three shot pellets were found lodged in the tissues of the neck ; two ribs 

 had been broken on each side, and had firmly united again. There were small 

 caseous masses in the lung, the remains of small localised abscesses which had 

 been caused by the passage of the shot. The pleura were fastened to the ribs 

 by traumatic adhesions ; and as the result apparently of some obstruction or 

 damage to the usual set of veins there was a great enlargement of what are 

 generally quite insignificant veins in the wall of the proventriculus. This 

 swelling, however, is purely vascular, and a different thing altogether to the 

 swelling in the two cases just described. It has in this respect some similarity 

 to the case which follows, a case in which the increased vascularity of the 

 proventriculus also resulted from damage to the thoracic viscera. 



No. 1279 was a cock Grouse of 23 ounces, found dead on February 17th, 

 1908, in Inverness-shire. It was in excellent plumage and condition, and 

 although an abundance of Strongyles was to be found in the caeca there was 

 no redness and no engorgement of the villi. 



The cause of death was apparently collision in flight, and the chief damage 



