Reports of Field Agents 395 



In September a trip to South Carolina was undertaken for two purposes: 

 First, to examine and investi^^ate the killing of small birds there for food; 

 and second, to see what could be done there for the better i)rotection of birds 

 and game. It had been generally understood that the Bobolinks, or Rice- 

 birds as they are called in South Carolina, did great harm to the rice crop and 

 were killed to save the crop. A thorough investigation gave incontestable 

 proof that the damage these birds do to the rice crop now is negligible, as the 

 rice industry in the South Atlantic States is almost a thing of the past, and 

 that the birds are not killed to protect the crop, but for the profit resulting 

 from their sale. Planters assured me that comparatively few birds were ever 

 shot to protect the crop, as powder was the chief ammunition used for that 

 purpose and very little shot; the birds are killed for the j)rotit obtained by 

 hunters and marketmen, and this has always been the chief incentive for the 

 slaughter of many hundreds of thousands of birds annually. Today most 

 of the negroes have guns, and shoot anything they can sell or eat. Even small 

 colored boys are armed with air-guns which they use for killing small birds 

 of all kinds. There is no resident hunters' license law, no appropriation for 

 the enforcement of the game laws, and therefore little enforcement of such 

 bird and game laws as South Carolina has, and Mr. James Henry Rice, Jr., 

 who is the chief warden and the State Agent of the National Association of 

 Audubon Societies, has no income for the work, other than the Hmited amount 

 which the Association is able to provide. 



Returning to New England, your agent has since applied himself to the 

 task of raising money to assist in carrying on the work of education and law 

 enforcement to protect insect-eating birds from the incessant persecution which 

 they now undergo. While it is discouraging that people of large means will 

 not give largely in support of this work, there is great encouragement in the 

 fact that many in moderate circumstances are far more generous in propor- 

 tion to their means. If we continue and enlarge our educational work, the time 

 will come when great popular subscriptions will ensure success. 



REPORT OF KATHERINE H. STUART, 

 FIELD AGENT FOR VIRGINIA 



The second year of the educational work of the Audubon Society in Vir- 

 ginia, made possible by the assistance of Mrs. Russell Sage, has been marked 

 by steady growth of interest in the better protection of our wild life. 



The month of September, 191 1, was given by your agent to preparation 

 for the various departments of work to be carried out in the schools and by 

 the Virginia Federation of Women's Clubs. In October, we conducted most 

 successful Audubon exhibits at the county fairs in Fredericksburg and 

 Bedford City. Attractive booths, decorated with autumn leaves, grain, 

 pumpkins, apples, mounted specimens of useful birds, with their nests 



