286 AN]S'TIAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUPvE. 



was found that tlic doves were very abundant and that by far the 

 greater part of their food was secured from the waste grain dropped 

 among the stubble. The birds seemed to prefer feeding there even 

 though shocks or stacks of grain remained in the same liehl. In 

 small fields, especially those located near large breeding bv roosting 

 colonies, the damage is sometimes very serious. In such situations it 

 will probably be necessary to permit the killing of birds actually 

 damaging crops. 



BLACKBIRDS IN OHIO. 



A study of the food habits of red-winged blackbirds in north- 

 eastern Ohio, where sweet corn is grown extensivel3\ determined the 

 fact that these birds are a menace to the crop. The damage is of .i 

 most annoying character, as the attacks are made wdien the crop is 

 nearly ready to harvest. The birds tear open the husks and feed on the 

 terminal kernels, thns making the corn unsalable. Field corn also is 

 similarly damaged. Effective control measures were devised for 

 fields of small size and for garden patches, but for large areas more 

 economical measures must yet be discovered. It has been found that 

 with care and wath proper baits strj'chnine may be used against 

 blackbirds Avith verv little danger to other wild or domestic bird 

 life. 



BOBOLINKS, OR " RICE BIRDS," AND THE RICE CROP. 



A complaint coming from the lower Delaware Valley regarding 

 depredations by bobolinks, " reedbirds," or " rice birds," was in- 

 Acstigated and found to be without foundation, but a continuation 

 of this investigation in the South Atlantic States indicated that these 

 birds are as destructive to rice as ever wherever opportunity offers. 

 On their northw^ard migration they do great damage to newly- 

 sprouted rice and on their southward journey they raise havoc witli 

 rico in the milk. Untold thousands of these birds swarm in dense 

 clouds over rice fields, where they ma}- ruin the crop in a few hours. 

 It was found that the losses to rice growers from these birds in tlie 

 fall of 1918 amounted to about $150,000. In consequence of this an 

 open season on bobolinks has been declared, which will have a 

 tendency toward breaking up large flocks and reducing their num- 

 bers. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaw-are, Maryland, and the 

 Disti-ict of Columbia these birds may be shot from September 1 to 

 October 30, inclusive, and in Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- 

 lina. Georgia, and Florida from August IG to November 15, inclu- 

 sive. 



DAMAGE TO RICE BY WILD FOV/L. 



In tlic fall of 1917 many complaints were received of ilamage by 

 wild ducks to the rice crop of the Sacramento Valley, Calif. Inves- 

 tigation Avas begun Iw an expert of the bureau as soon as the rice 

 began to head the following August and continued mitil the harvest 

 was well under way in October. Rice in this region is grown largely 

 on low-lying and more or less alkaline lands unsuited for other 

 forms of cuhivatio)! and therefore previously unutilized for agri- 

 culture. Considerable numbers of pintails and mallards breed in the 

 marsh and slough areas, and late in sunnner many other birds con- 

 gregate there, attracted by the Avater and food. On moonlight nights 

 pintails come to the rice fields in large flocks to feed. Experiments 

 Avere made AA'ith various means of driving out the birds. It was 

 found that arming men Avith guns and stationing them in the fields 



