Bird Flea

bird-fleaA whole book with nothing but lovely little creepy crawlies that feed on other animals, including us. Oh, lovely. Such a nice thought. But, these real little monsters make up some really cool vintage drawings. This fellow is identified as a bird flea who particularly likes dining on sea eagles.

Animal Parasites and Messmates was published in 1876. The author did not identify an illustrator for his work but this drawing appears to be signed Burgun. I did a little checking for that name and came up empty. If someone knows this signature, please drop me a note so I can share it with everyone.

This image is copyright free and in the public domain anywhere that extends copyrights 70 years after death or at least 120 years after publication when the original illustrator is unknown.