Carlton M. Herman

Incidence of trypanosomes in the Canada goose as revealed by bone marrow culture

Herman and Diamond (1952) reported briefly on a method of culturing trypanosomes from avian bone marrow collected at autopsy. Using this technique they demonstrated for the first time the presence of trypanosomes in the Canada goose (Branta canadensis L.). Subsequent work has led to a new technique for obtaining bone marrow samples from living birds. This paper gives the details for culturing avian trypanosomes from bone marrow and presents the results obtained in trypanosome surveys of wild Canada geese.

Lophortofilaria californiensis, N.G., N. Sp. (Filarioidea, Dipetalonematidae) from California quail, Lophortyx californicus, with notes on its microfilaria

A number of filarioid nematodes were recovered from the ventricles of the heart of the California quail during a survey of the parasites of this host in California several years ago.* Unfortunately, before these nematodes could be identified, a fire swept through the building in which they were stored and completely destroyed many of them. A recent study of the few remaining specimens showed them to represent a new genus and a new species.

BLOOD PARASITES FROM CALIFORNIA DUCKS AND GEESE

During the period 1941 through 1949 blood smears were procured from 1,011 wild ducks and geese obtained from various sources in California. The birds studied were either suffering from botulism or fowl cholera, trapped for migration studies, shot by hunters, or collected specifically for obtaining blood samples. Samples were procured from the peripheral blood in the living birds and from the heart in dead birds. The author is indebted to the several persons who aided in obtaining the samples reported in this paper. Blood smears were stained with Giemsas stain and examined with the aid of the oil immersion objective of a compound microscope for at least ten minutes. Findings are summarized in Table 1. Not included in the table are the follow-

Food Habits and Intensity of Coccidian Infection in Native Valley Quail in California

Examination of fecal samples from large series of California quail (Lophortyx californica), taken in various areas in California during 1941, showed a high incidence of coccidian infection. Herman and Jankiewicz (1942) have demonstrated that the infection reduces to a minimum in the absence of material contaminated with ripe coccidian o6cysts. Herman, Jankiewicz and Saarni (1942) showed further that, under natural conditions, the intensity of infection in individual quail tends to fluctuate, probably decreasing as the parasites are eliminated and increasing with the repeated ingestion of o6cysts. A possible relationship between the intensity of coccidian infection and food habits was observed from data on fecal samples of quail from the San Joaquin Experimental Range, Madera County, California. The type of food consumed by these birds varies according to the season. They subsist primarily on seeds during the dry summer and early fall, but after the first rains the diet becomes predominantly green leafy material, as demonstrated by Glading, Biswell and Smith (1940) from the analysis of quail stomachs taken on the experimental range. Data for the present study are based on the examination of 342 fecal samples procured from April 1941, through February 1942. The procedure followed has been described by Herman, Jankiewicz and Saarni. Intensity was computed by the number of o6cysts present in a single drop of surface film of the concentrated zinc sulfate centrifuged material (1-10, 1 4-; 11-50, 2 +; 51-100, 3 +; 101-500, 4 +; 501-1000, 5 +; over 1000, 6+). Tabulations were made by individual samples, no consideration being given to individual birds. In computing the data presented in section C of the graph, negatives were considered as 0, each 1 + infection as 1, etc. The average (points plotted) was obtained by dividing the sum of the infections for each month by the number of samples examined. Section A of the graph presents the actual inches of rainfall during the period of the study. Section B pictures the probable food consumption (for the period March 1941, through February 1942) interpolated from 1937 data of relation of rainfall to per cent of composition of food consumed (after Glading, Biswell and Smith, 1940). Becker and Waters (1939) reported that alfalfa contains liberal amounts of the liypothetical materials for promoting coccidium growth as compared with grains,