286 THE GROUSE IN HEALTH AND IN DISEASE 



of these worms are sometimes found bile stained. No pathological changes were 

 noticed. 



Caeca. The appearance of the caecum as seen from without varied ; in some 

 cases there were no obvious changes ; in others the cseca appeared to be some- 

 what dilated, and sometimes they were mottled with lighter coloured 



O'V'C'l 



patches. The contents, the main portion of which was semi - fluid, 

 often contained especially near the proximal ends dry masses, which 

 were very adherent to the mucous membrane, and which corresponded to 

 the whitish patches seen from the exterior. Whenever one of these masses 

 was peeled off numerous Strongyli could be seen stretched between the mass 

 and the mucous membrane, obviously adherent to both. The dry attached 

 condition of these masses strongly suggested that they consisted of material 

 which had long been retained in the gut. 



The small nematode, Trichostrongylus pergracilis, was often present in 

 enormous numbers, occasionally amounting to thousands. They were particularly 



numerous towards the proximal ends of the caeca, especially in the 

 stnngyius dry masses just described. Except in one instance we never failed 

 always to find Strongyli in wild Grouse, and they were always present in 



large numbers in birds suffering from " Grouse Disease." The numbers 

 present in wild Grouse did not appear to depend in any way upon the time of 

 year. Portions of Davainea were on rare occasions seen in the cseca. 1 



After washing in a gentle stream of water the mucous membrane frequently 

 appeared reddened, especially in birds which were picked up dead on the moor. 

 The reddening was present in many, but not in all, of the birds badly infested 

 with Strongyli which were examined in a perfectly fresh condition. It was 

 thought that this might possibly have been a post-mortem change, and some 

 normal birds were kept after death for a few days before examination to see 

 if the redness would appear in them ; but it was not seen. When examined 

 under a Zeiss binocular microscope ( x 8 - 33) the ridges were found to be 

 thickened, especially in patches to which the dry masses already referred to 

 were found adherent (PI. XLI., Fig. 7). The villi were very irregular in all 

 situations, being in places greatly hypertrophied and club-shaped both in the 

 depressions and on the ridges, and in other places atrophied, particularly on 

 the thickenings just mentioned. In many cases the villi on the ridges were 



1 PI. XLIV. shows in diagrammatic form the alimentary canal of the Grouse and the habitats of the 

 more important intestinal parasites. 



