THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST. 
Tile feeding of the chicks Is the all-im¬ 
portant item, and I shall at a!i times 
be pleased to render ail}' assistance and 
advice to anyone desiring the same, feel¬ 
ing confident that the pleasure ho will 
derive from watching the handsomest 
and linest game bird the world knows 
grow up under his hand will amply repay 
him for the trouble he has taken to rear 
them. Many of us hope to see the 
pheasant amongst our game birds within 
the next few years. Another bird that 
warrants our attention is the Virginian 
quail, or Boh White; it is the game bird 
of America, and has been introduced into 
Japan, Jamaica, Holland, and New Zea¬ 
land, in each of which places it has es¬ 
tablished itself. In New Zealand It is 
doing remarkably well. It is larger 
than any of our native Quail, a swifter 
llier, is more prolific, and possesses one 
splendid trait ensuring Its protection if 
once established here—wuen disturbed 
from the stubbles where it feeds it seeks 
shelter in the nearest scrub, and one 
who has hunted our brown birds under 
these conditions knows how It is an al¬ 
most impossible task t»o find them again 
in cover of this description. A few 
immigrants of this class would bo wel¬ 
comed to Tasmania by ah sportsmen. 
i71 i'Parasite upon Allies. 
By H. M. NIC ROLLS (Garden Islaud Creek). 
This curious little creature first came 
under my notice while 1 was engaged in 
preparing the proboscis of a March tty 
(Tabanus sp.) for mounting. Happen¬ 
ing to look at it under a dissecting 
microscope, there seemed to he a num¬ 
ber of little black specks sticking to the 
pseudo-tracheal tubes—a very unfamiliar 
appearance. In picking them olT with 
needles, in nearly every ease a portion 
of the tube they were attached to came 
away with them. This led me to ex¬ 
amine tf • on more carefully, when T found 
they were parasites of a very unusual 
nature. Later on, I found precisely the 
same thing upon the proboscis of me 
common blow-fly, and more extended in- 
vestigations showed that it was by no 
means uncommon upon both blow-flies 
and March-flies, in this part of the coun¬ 
try -at least. Upon showing specimens 
to our able Government Entomologist, 
Mr. A. M. Lea, I found that, it was un¬ 
known to him, and no references to 
anything like it were to be found in any 
scientific work available. This little 
creature is very remarkable in many 
ways. It is less than the 130th of an 
inch in length, hardly bigger than 
some of the rotifers, but It possesses a 
hard ohitinous exo-skeieton, rid its 
abdominal portion is divided into seg¬ 
ments, just as that of a flea is. Tlie 
head appears to be merged with the 
thorax, as is the ease with spiders, and 
there' are a pair of powerful hooked man¬ 
dibles, which the little creature drives 
through the pseudo-tracheal tubes of its 
host, and thus hangs on. Thtere are no 
visible signs of any locomotive organs, 
such as legs or wings, nor any antennae 
to be seen. There is a very curious 
hood-like arrangement situated upon the 
anterior end of the head, and just over 
the hooked jaws. This fits down over 
the pseudo-trachea of the host, when the 
parasite is in position, and completely 
covers up the jaws and mouth parts. In 
some specimens there can bo seen what 
appear to be eyes, in the shape of un- 
pigmented lenses, one on each side, just as 
the eyes of some fleas are situated. Just 
below the base of the hooked jaws 
there is a little tube-like arrangement 
which suggests « sucking apparatus. It 
appears to be so situated that when the 
parasite has fastened on to the proboscis 
of the /use it would project into the 
pseudo-tracheal tube through one of the 
horseshoe-shaped openings in the hitter. 
The opening of the little tube is divided 
at the anterior end by a septum, whid» 
gives it something of the appearance of 
the muzzle of a very minute double- 
barrelled gun. This would suggest that 
the parasite only feeds upon the food 
matter that the host lias collected for it 
self as it pusses through the pseudo- 
trachea on its way to tire main tube, 
-which carries it to the stomach. The 
parasites are nearly always found upon 
the pseudo -tracheae, and never in any 
case that I have seen are they very far 
away from them; so it therefore appears 
to he rather a partial parasite of an un¬ 
usual nature than a true parasite. The 
hooked jaws seem simply to servo the 
purpose of holding on, while the little 
sucking tube takes a share of the dinner 
that the blow nr March fly has procured 
for itself. Alien detached from the 
•host these little creatures have a slight 
power of movement, bending their tails 
feebly from side to side, as many chrysa¬ 
lids do. but they are unable to move- 
I from one place to another, at least under 
8 ) 
