Vol.
X-VI
1945
BEAUDETTE,
Aspergillosis
andParasitism
in a Gull
--1928a.
45:
[99
Observationsand banding notes on the Bank Swallow. III.
Auk,
Observations and banding notes on the Bank Swallow. IV.
Auk,
41.45.
--.1928b.
45 .' 310-320.
--.1941.
Homing instinct in the Bank Swallow. Bird-Banding, 12: 104-109.
THOMAS, E. S. 1934. A study of Starlings banded at Columbus, Ohio. BirdBanding, 5: 118-128.
THOMAS, J. F. 1933. Some results of ringing and trapping swallows in Car.
marthenshire. British Birds, 26: 253-255.
UCHIDA,S. 1932. Studies of swallows by the banding method. Bird-Banding,
3:
1-11.
VXLIKANCAS,
I.
1933. Finnische ZugvSgel aus englischenVogeleiern. Vogelzug,
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Vr,gHr,¾r,•,R. 1939. R•sultats du baguageau nid des oiseauxde Belgiquepour
les dix premieres ann•es (1928-1938). Mededeelingen van her Koninklijk
Natuurhistorisch Museum van Belgi•', 15, N r. 49. 36 pp.
VESTERGREN,
G. 1938. •,terfunna ringm•irkta ffiglar. Fauna och Flora, 33:
265-270.
VILKS, K. and vo• TgANSV,
Hr,, N. 1933. Ergebnisse der Beringung von Staren
(Sturnus vulgaris) in Lettland. Vogelzug, 4: 113-118.
WHITTLE,C.L. 1926. The bearing of a knowledgeof nest-spacingamong birds
on the work of the bird-bander. Bull. Northeast. Bird-Band. Assoc., 2: 78-81.
--.1932.
Are nesting territories always available for returning juvenile Song
Sparrows? Bird-Banding, 3: 106-108.
4926 Cass Street, Omaha, Nebraska.
ASPERGI'LLOSIS
AND
PARASITISM
IN A GULL 1
BY F. R. BEAUDETTE
A Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)wasreceivedSept.27, 1943, for
examination. It had beenfound deadat OysterBay the day before.
The bird wasvery thin and on autopsyshowedwhite caseous
masses
in the thoracicand pericardialair sacs,and a few smallerpatches
attached to the abdominal air sacs.
Cultures taken from the air sacs
on agarplatesyieldeda puregrowthof a funguswhichwasidentified
as Aspergillus]umigatusby Dr. S. A. Waksman.
Althoughthe fungusinfectionwas undoubtedly
the primary cause
of death,a variety of parasitesmusthave beena contributingfactor.
Thus,beneaththe serouscoveringof the proventriculus
couldbe seen
smalldark spotssuggesting
an infestationof Tetrameres,and careful
dissectionmade possiblethe removalof six females. The femaleis
readilydistinguished
by the globularshapeandtheredcolorin contrast
to the elongated
shapeand whitecolorof the male.
Whenthe proventriculus
wasopeneda smallnematode
seemed
to be
partlyburiedin a glandand,because
of the presence
of femaleTetra• JournalSeriespaperof the New JerseyAgriculturalExperimentStation,Rutgers
University,Departmentof Poultry Husbandry.
10o]
BEAUDETTE,
,4spergillosis
and Parasitismin a Gull
Bird-Banding
July
meres, was thought to be the male of the species. Without further
examinationthis together with a few female Tetramereswere sent
to Dr. E. E. Price of the ZoologicalDivision in Washington,D.C.,
for specificdiagnosis.No specificdiagnosis
wasrenderedon the female
Tetrameres,but what was assumedto be the male of the specieswas
diagnosedby Dr. E. E. Wehr as Cosmocephalus
obvelatus(Creplin,
1825) Senrat, 1919.
Finally, the intestinescontaineda largenumberof tapeworms,which
were not identified,and in addition,an equallylarge numberof two
speciesof flukes, one of which obviouslybelongedto the Echinostomatidae. Specimenswere sent to Dr. H. $tunkard, who identified
the smaller as Cryptocotylelingua and the larger, the Echinostome,
as Himasthla quissetensis.
Mr. Buick, who had accommodatedus with the above bird, sent
a secondspecimenwhich arrived April 15, 1944. Unfortunately,
it wasquitedecomposed
and infestedwith maggots,but a large fibrous
mass was found protruding from the seroussurface of the sternum.
Again, the intestinescontainedtapeworms,two Acanthocephalids,
and
many Himasthla quissetensis.
Aspergillosisis not uncommonin birds, as it has been reportedin
fowls, pheasants,pigeons, turkeys, ducks, geese, swans, ostriches,
flamingoes,
canaries,jays, white storks,ravens,eider ducks,paraquets,
hawks,bullfinches,plovers,bustards,parrots,gray parrots,wild geese,
wild turkeys,gray partridges,snowyowls,and the commonmallards.
Other speciescouldbe addedto the list if birds dying in zoological
parks were included. In most of thesecases,4spergillusjumigatus
wasthe species
of fungusinvolved. However,the diseasein gullshas
not beenreportedoften. Robin •1) reportedmycosisin a gull (Larus
griseusd,
andrecentlyDavisandMcClung(2) reportedcasesin Herring
Gulls near Boston.
It is unfortunatethat a specificdiagnosiswas not made on the
TetrameresbecauseCram (3) doesnot list a speciesfor this bird.
The nematodeCosmocephalus
obvelatushas been reported from
severalspeciesof gulls and other birds. tn the United Statesit has
beenreportedby Cram (4•, whofoundit in the esophagus
of a pelican
(Pelecanussp.) at the National ZoologicalPark, Washington,D.C.,
and also by Canavan(5), who found it in the proventriculus
of a
Herring Gull (Larus argentatussmithsonianus)
in the Philadelphia
ZoologicalGarden.
The life cycleof the flukeCryptocotyle
lingua,whichappearsto be
commonin gulls,has beenworkedout by Stunkard(6), who showed
that the first and second intermediate hosts are the marine snail Litto-
rina littorea, and the cunner,respectively.
Hoff (7) has pointedout an interestingdifferencein the degree
of infection of snailswith Cryptocotylelingua with referenceto the
Vol.
XVI
1945
BEAUDETTE,
Aspergillosis
andParasitism
in a Gull
[10].
habits of gulls. Thus in the region of docksfrom which gulls are continuouslyfrightened no infected snails were found, while 501 snails
from feedingareasof gu!!3showed6.2 percentinfection. The highest
incidenceof infectionin snailswas in thosetaken near roostingand
nestingareas. Out of 86 snailsfrom roostingareas,17, or 19.8 percent,
were infected,and of 134 snails from nestingsites 20.9 percentwere
infected. The differenceis attributed to the observationof Stunkard (6)
thatthemiracidiaarenotfree-livingandthereforedo not becomeevenly
distributed. Incidentally, Rothchild (8) has recorded an instance
in whichan originalinfectionof a snailcontinuedto result,sevenyears
la•er, in the daily elimination of a thousandcercariae.
The life cycle of the echinostomeHimasthla quissetensis
was also
workedout by Stunkard(9). In this the snail Nassaobsoletaserves
as the first intermediatehost and cercariaefrom this penetratedand
encysted
in the gills,mantleandfoot of severalmollusks(Mya arenaria,
Modiolus modiolus,Mytilus edulis, Cumi•gia tellinoides,Pecten irradians,Ensisdirectus,andCrepidula[ornica!a),whichserveasthe second
intermediate
host.
Thanksare due Dr. Waksmanfor identificationof the fungus,Dr.
Wehr for identifyingthe nematode,and Dr. Stunkardfor identifying
the flukes.
LITERATURE
CITED
(1) ROtaN. Histoire des vegetaux parasites qui croiszent sur l'homme et sur les
animaux vivants. Paris-Braillier, 1853 (cited by R. P. Rossi). Di
un' affezionemicosicain alcuni canarini. ll Nuovo Ercolini. Anno 12,
No. 20, July 20, 1907, pp. 311-313.
(2) Davis, W. A., and McCLuN½,L. S. Aspergillosisin Wild Herring Gulls.
Journal o/ Bacteriology,Vol. 40, No. 2, Aug., 1940, pp. 321-323.
(3) Caa:.•, E. B. Bird Parasitesof the NematodeSubordersStrongylata,Ascaridata, and Spirurata. Bull. U.S. National Museum,No. 140, 1927,465 pp.
(4) CaA•, E. B. New Recordsof Nematodesof Birds. Journal o/Parasitology,
Vol. 19, No. 1, Sept., 1932, pp. 93-94.
(5) C•N•V•N, W. P. N. NematodeParasitesof Vertebratasin the Philadelphia
ZoologicalGardenand Vicinity. II. Parasitology,
Vol. 23, No. 2, May 11,
1931, pp. 196-229.
(6) STUN•:•an,H. W.
The Life History of CryptocotyleLingua (Creplin), with
Notes on the Physiologyof the Metacercariae.Journalo/ Morphology
and Physiology,Vol. 50, No. 1, Sept. 5, 1930, pp. i43-184.
(7) HOFF, C. C. A case of Correlation between Infection of Snail Hosts with
Cryptocotyle
lingua and the Habitsof Gulls. The Journalo/Parasitology,
Vol. 27, No. 6, Dec., 1941, p. 539.
(8) ROTkICmLn,
M. A. Seven-Year-Old
Infectionof Cryptocotyle
lingua Creplin
in the Winkle Littorina littorea L. Journal o/ Parasitology,Vol. 28,
No. 4, Aug.. 1942, p. 350.
(9) STUNKARD,
m. W. The Morphologyand Life Cycle of the TrematodeHimasthlaquissetensis(Miller and Northrup, 1926). Biological Bulletin, Vol. 75,
No. 1, Aug., 1938, pp. 145-164.
New JerseyAgriculturalExperimentStation,
New Brunswick,New Jersey.