The Elegance and 
Horror of Bird Parasites. 
(94) 
THE BIRD WORLD. 
Flower-like fluff-enclosed eggs of the Peacock’s Parasite, magnified ; 
the lids have been removed from the eggs. 
flight, or agitated ruffling and fluttering of their 
feathers', would soon displace the parasites which 
were not specially endowed to resist distur¬ 
bance ; hence we find ‘that the extremity of each 
of the six legs is furnished with a four-pronged 
claw, from the middle of which extends a finely- 
ribbed thread which can entwine lound the similar 
portions of the bird’s feather. These parasites 
pass through the usual transformations of flies; 
being first a mere maggot, in each case, and 
then a seed-like chrysalis ; but it is worthy of note 
that the parent produces only one egg at a time, 
which remains within its body until hatched, 
when the maggot is released and another one in 
its turn developed. The dreaded New Forest fly 
belongs to this group. 
O l ur / ‘ second foe undergoes an exceedingly re- 
Vase-shaped eggs of parasite of Japanese Turkey, generally 
covered with neatly arranged fluff, highly magnified ; the circle 
may be regarded as an enlarged pinhole. 
Pigeon Louse, magnified—actual size about one-tenth of an inch. 
In the side circles are shown the remarkable “ thumb and finger ” 
claws on a much larger scale 
evidenced itself by considering the parasitic fly 
of the Blackbird, which I have pictured. 
Although this identical specimen is procurable 
from the bird named, companions of rather dif¬ 
ferent shape and dimensions infest large numbers 
of other kinds of birds. As can be seen, this 
parasite is winged in a liberal manner. Now 
here is a startling truth : that very same insect, 
but without wings, is parasitic on a 
quadruped. Th ; s rule applies through the whole 
run of their histories. As an example, the 
winged parasite-fly of the grouse is found 
wingless in the stag. There must be a very 
cogent reason for this direct connection in the 
habits of attacking both birds and beasts in rota¬ 
tion, and only systematic study carried out per¬ 
sistently and with enthusiasm could arrive at the 
full degree of truth. 
The phenomena, however, enable us to 
adequately realise the method of introduction of 
parasites, and their gradual degradation to hor¬ 
rible creeping things. Here we have a fly which 
has acquired the habit of attacking birds. Its 
wings permit it to seize upon a victim while it, 
too, is flying, or during a time when it may be 
normally out of easy reach. But when the same 
creatures attack animals of the field, and can 
thus pass from one to another because of the fre¬ 
quent contacts among the latter, or by crawling 
about the ground and up their legs, the wings 
fall off as unnecessary adjuncts. Imagine that 
the deformed parasites confined themselves ex¬ 
clusively to beasts, and you will see that in course 
of time their own offspring would reveal merely 
rudiments of wings; which is exactly the case 
with bugs and fleas, though other modifica¬ 
tions are noticeable besides. Of course, we can 
only speak in a general sense, and not dogma¬ 
tically with excessive assurance. 
As birds are very active beings, their frequent 
