286 a:n'1s"ual reports of department of agriculture. 



was found that the doves ^Ycre veiy 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 field. In 

 small fields, especially those located near large breeding or roosting 

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

 wdll probabl}^ 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 nortli- 

 castern Ohio, where sweet corn is grown extensively, determined the 

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

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

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

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

 similarly damaged. Effective control measures w^ere devised for 

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

 economical measures must j'et be discovered. It has been found that 

 with care and with proper baits strychnine may be used against 

 blackbirds Avith very 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, " reeclbirds," or " rice birds," w^as in- 

 vestigated 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 wdierever opportunit}' offers. 

 On their northward migration they do great damage to newly- 

 sprouted rice and on their southward journey they raise havoc witli 

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

 clouds over rice fields, where they may ruin the crop in a few hours. 

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

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

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

 tendency toward breaking up large flocks and reducing their num- 

 bers. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the 

 District 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 16 to November 15, inclu- 

 sive. 



damage to RICE BY WILD FOWL. 



In the fall of 1017 many complaints w^ere received of damage by 

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

 tigation w^as begun by an expert of the bureau as soon as the rice 

 began to head the following August and continued until 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 cultivation and therefore previously unutilized for agri- 

 culture. Considerable numbers of pintails and mallards breed in the 

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

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

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

 were made with various means of clrivin^ out the birds. It was 

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



