Practical Game-Preserving. 9 2 



There is, however, a pleasing absence of precise know- 

 ledge amongst the fraternity, which tends to lump one 

 malady with another, or to connect totally different diseases 

 and attribute them to identical causes. Then, again, the 

 most familiar ones which means those of which they 

 possess most knowledge are counted as the most fatal, and 

 altogether the wonder is that as many birds are reared as 

 there are, and that, it must be added, is a poor enough 

 percentage in many instances. 



I think it will serve the best purpose if we take the more 

 familiar diseases first, and thus lead up to those of more 

 deadly but less familiar character. 



The affliction known to every rearer of pheasants as the 

 gapes must claim first consideration. The symptoms are 

 only too well known, but there is no harm in describing 

 them. In the first instance there is a peculiar gaping of 

 the mouth, giving one the idea that the bird is tired of 

 doing so, which is probably the case. The neck is stretched 

 forward, and there is a wheezy sound emitted, which soon 

 develops into a cough. At times froth shows round the 

 mouth, and also at the nostrils, evidently produced by the 

 efforts to cough up the worms which cause gapes acting 

 upon the saliva. As the worms gather in strength the 

 efforts to produce them become more frequent and 

 stronger, but by degrees the failure of energy in the 

 afflicted bird, together with the inflammation in the throat, 

 contribute to render the gaping and coughing impossible, 

 and the bird is suffocated or dies from actual exhaustion. 



Gapes is due to the presence in the windpipe, or, it may 

 be, in the bronchial tubes, of a Nematode or Round-worm 

 popularly known as the Red-worm and Forked-worm 

 (Syngamus trachealis). Not only do the pests infest 

 pheasants, fowls, and turkeys, but they are also found in 

 several species of our commonest birds rooks, wood- 



