. Circular. Insects. 5 ; This is pale dull yellow in color, with more or less distinct larker marks on each side of the bod}7, although often after feeding \t is reddish or pinkish in color. The length is about one-twentieth Df an inch, the legs are six in number, and the head is broad, rounded n front, with a small antenna or feeler on each side. It is always without wings. This louse is very active, and seems to wander continually over the l^kin or among the feathers, apparently looking for something new, as .any person will discover who handles a lousy hen. The eggs, or ,,c nits,
. Circular. Insects. 5 ; This is pale dull yellow in color, with more or less distinct larker marks on each side of the bod}7, although often after feeding \t is reddish or pinkish in color. The length is about one-twentieth Df an inch, the legs are six in number, and the head is broad, rounded n front, with a small antenna or feeler on each side. It is always without wings. This louse is very active, and seems to wander continually over the l^kin or among the feathers, apparently looking for something new, as .any person will discover who handles a lousy hen. The eggs, or ,,c nits," of this louse are tiny, elongate, oval objects, with the smaller '3ncl flattened and the larger end attached to the vanes and barbs of Ithe feathers. If conditions are favorable, the young issue from the 3gg in about eight days, but they may be kept in a cool place for .several months without loss of vitality. The young louse is much Vike the parent, having six legs and a broad head, but with a rather smaller body. It keeps close to the body of *the host, molts several times, and, in the course of two or three wTeeks, if not dis- turbed, wTill reach maturity. Lice are not 'provided with mandibles fitted to suck blood from a hen, but they use their short- toothed jaws to bite off the epidermal s#cales, or dandruff, and the edges of the feathers. The claws of the feet are sometimes very sharp, and continual pricking of the host draws blood, which is greedily eaten by the lice. This accounts for the reddish color of many specimens. Dampness, filth, and warm weather favor the increase of these lice, and a setting hen in a foul nest is their paradise. At night they crawl about on the roosts, going from one fowl to another, so that one infested bird will soon cause the (infestation of an entire flock. The chickens do not suffer from loss of blood, but from the nervous exhaustion induced by the biting of their scales and the scratching and pricking from the claws, often resulti
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublishe, booksubjectinsects