412 
Journal of Agricultural Research 
Vol. II, No. 6 
RESULTS OF TESTS AS SHOWN BY CULTURES 
The results obtained from the cultures are given in Table I. 
Of the 36 birds tested 19 were found to be carrying spores of the chest¬ 
nut-blight fungus. The highest positive results were obtained from two 
downy woodpeckers, which were found to be carrying 757,074 and 624,341 
viable spores of Endothia parasitica . The next highest was a brown 
creeper, with 254,019 spores. In each case where the number of colonies 
of Endothia parasitica was very large, there was only a relatively small 
number of other fungous colonies present. This is best shown in bird 
No. 10, which yielded almost 14 times as many colonies of the chestnut- 
blight fungus as of all other fungi. Another good example, although not 
quite as striking, is bird No. 23, where the proportion was 5 to 1. Part 
of the plate cultures from bird No. 23 were photographed at the end of 
nine days (PI. XXXIX). These show the characteristic development 
of Endothia parasitica colonies on dextrose agar and also the relatively 
small number of other fungous colonies present. 
Positive results were obtained from one of the two juncos tested. Al¬ 
though this species is primarily ground-frequenting in habit, both juncos 
were shot from blight-infected trees. There are, therefore, two possible 
sources for the 10,000 spores of the chestnut-blight fungus carried by 
bird No. 4. First, the blighted tree from which it was shot; second, the 
pycnospores which had been washed into the soil around the bases of 
infected trees and which have been found to remain viable for a period of 
2 to 13 days of dry weather (5). 
In those cases in which the birds were shot directly from a chestnut- 
blight canker it might be suggested that the spores carried were scattered 
by the impact of the shot and lodged upon the feathers, and so were not 
obtained during the normal movements. A brief consideration of the 
tests of birds giving positive results will throw definite light on this 
subject. 
Of the 19 birds yielding positive results only 6 were on cankers when 
killed, and positive results were also obtained from 6 of the 8 birds which 
had been working on cankers just previous to shooting, but which were 
not on cankers when killed. Again, 7 birds of the 20 which were not 
seen on cankers at all yielded positive results. 
Of the 4 birds yielding the highest numbers of spores of the chestnut 
blight fungus, only 1, No. 27, was on a canker when shot; 2, Nos. 7 and 10, 
were not on cankers when shot but had been working on some previous 
to being killed; while 1, No. 23, had never been seen on a canker. 
These results point clearly to the fact that the impact of the shot 
was not responsible for the presence or any increase in number of blight 
spores upon the bodies of the birds. 
It will be noted that the number of bacterial and yeast colonies was 
quite large in most instances. The plates from five birds were so heavily 
