L'O INSECT PARASITES. 



four or five joints. Compare the Mammalian Lice 

 with the biting-mouth, and yon will only find three 

 joints constituting the antenna?. The reason I am 

 pointing out this structural character is because, owing 

 to the similarity between these two groups, they 

 are often confounded with one another, and you find 

 such statements in Poultry Journals as that poultry 

 lice can be transmitted to animals and vice versa. A 

 few minutes' examination with a microscope w r ould 

 soon dispel the idea that the lice, for instance, on 

 horses are similar to those on fowls. So particular 

 are Bird-Lice, that it is quite the exception to find 

 one species upon two distinct kinds of birds. Fowl- 

 lice will not even attack the duck, nor duck-lice the 

 fowl. Nearly every bird has its own particular 

 Mallophagan parasite or parasites. They may pos- 

 sibly pass to some strange host for a short time, but 

 they will not live and breed. Moreover, we shall see 

 later on that particular species attack restricted areas 

 on the same host, and are seldom found in other 

 positions. 



Damage caused by Lice. 



The damage caused by Lice is often very con- 

 siderable, and in many cases it is entirely overlooked, 

 or even if the cause is known little attention is paid 

 to the matter, and wonder is still expressed if the 

 poultry do not flourish. The serious loss occasioned 

 by lice cannot be too fully considered by poultry- 

 breeders and fanciers. 



By constantly biting at the skin violent irritation 



