The Common Pheasant 
95 
characters appear to be identical with those of Friedlander's pneumo-bacillus. Stab cultures 
show the characteristic 'nail-like' appearance. Inoculation experiments with both organisms 
will be carried out as soon as possible. 
"Together with the pneumonic birds, others were sent to us as having died of the same 
disease, but presenting numerous gapeworms {Syngamus trachealis) in their trachea. Gapeworms 
were seldom found in the trachea of the pneumonic birds, which were for the most part very 
young ; but the possibility of an earlier laval stage of the gapeworm in the lungs was con- 
sidered a possible means of favouring the pathogenic action of the diplococcus, and, indeed, one 
of us (Dr. Sambon) has now found immature forms of Syngamus trachealis in the lungs of both 
the red grouse and the pheasant. 
"Other worms were occasionally found in the intestines of the older birds, but they have 
no relation with the lung affection. The presence of the diplococcus suggests that these birds 
died of an acute infective pneumonia, which is probably spread from bird to bird by means of 
the mucus found in their trachea being coughed up and expectorated or sneezed both on to the 
food they eat and into their drinking water. 
"In our present knowledge of this disease all measures to mitigate its fatal results must 
be prophylactic. All affected birds should be at once killed and burnt ; the healthy birds 
should be put on to fresh ground and carefully watched, and birds suffering from gapes should 
likewise be destroyed. The coops should be thoroughly disinfected. It might be of service to 
give all the birds a small amount of salicylate of soda in their drinking water ; a i per cent, 
solution would suffice." 
It seems a great pity that we do not possess in England a properly qualified 
practitioner associated with a good scientific ornithologist, and appointed by the Board 
of Agriculture to inquire into the diseases of birds that are useful to mankind. In 
America they are far ahead of us in this respect, and have been working industriously 
on the subject for twenty years with excellent results. Such a suggestion is made 
by my friend Mr. W. S. Pycraft, in a contribution to Country Life (July 21, 1906), in 
which he describes the results of examination of Pheasant chicks which were supposed 
to have died of enteritis : — 
" During the past three weeks the death-rate among pheasant chicks has, on many game 
farms, reached an appalling total. As usual, so far as I can make out, the cause thereof is 
attributed to enteritis, but this diagnosis, it would seem, must be accepted with some reserve. 
At any rate, post-mortem examinations, which I have just made on a dozen birds sent me from 
a game farm in Sussex, have convinced me that enteritis, at all events in a considerable number 
of cases, is not the cause of death ; though, lacking a properly equipped laboratory, I am 
unable to say whether some other form of bacterial infection is at the bottom of this mystery, 
or whether these outbreaks are due to blood parasites— trypanosomes— though this last sup- 
position has so far received no support. It may be that the mischief comes from quite another 
and unexpected source, since I made one discovery that will possibly prove of some importance. 
In short, it may turn out that a large percentage of deaths are due to myiasis, caused by the 
flesh-fly {Sarcophaga camaria). At any rate, in most of the birds of this batch I found a 
living larva, apparently of this species, lodged in the posterior nares— the slit along the roof 
of the mouth. It would be of great interest, and of considerable help, if those now engaged 
in rearing pheasants-especially those suffering such heavy losses-would make careful obser- 
vations as to the prevalence of this fly among their coops. It is a large insect, bigger than a 
'blue-bottle,' and having its abdomen chequered after the fashion of a draught-board. Further- 
more, it is peculiar in that it is ovoviviparous, so that the small and active larva could be 
easily deposited in the nostril of the chick, whence it would quickly make its way to the back 
of the nasal chamber. It is quite possible, of course, that this parasite may not, after all, 
