No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 217 



bird-minders in their efforts to keep the birds from pulling up the 

 young rice. This warfare is kept up incessantly until about the 

 25th of May, when they suddenly disappear at night. Their next 

 appearance is in a dark yellow plumage, as the rieebird. There 

 is no song at this time, but, instead, a chirp, which means ruin to 

 any rice found in milk. My plantation record will show that for the 

 past ten years, except when prevented by stormy south or southwest 

 winds, the rieebirds have come punctually on the night of the 21st 

 of August, apparently coming from seaward. All niglit their chirp 

 can be heard passing over our summer homes on South Island, which 

 island is situated six miles to the east of our rice plantations, in 

 full view of the ocean. Curious to say, we have never seen this 

 flight during the day. During the nights of August 21, 22, 23 and 

 24, millions of these birds make their appearance and settle in 

 the rice fields. From the 21st of August to the 25th of September 

 our every effort is to save the crop. Men, boys and women are 

 posted with guns and ammunition to evei'y four or five acres, and 

 shoot daily an average of about one quart of powder to the giui. 

 The firing commences at first dawn of day and is kept up until 

 sunset. After all this expense and trouble our loss of rice per 

 acre seldom falls under five bushels, and if from any cause there is 

 a cheek to the croj^ during its gi-owth, which jirevents the grain 

 from being hard, but in milky condition, the destruction of such 

 fields is complete, it not paying to cut and bring the rice out of the 

 field. We have tried every plan to keep these pests off our crops at 

 less expense and manual labor than we now incur, but have been 

 unsuccessful. 



If Captain Hazzard's statement that the loss per acre sel- 

 dom falls under five 1)nsliels is not greatly exaggerated, and 

 if the rice crop of the United States was worth $6,607,882.38 

 for the year 1879-80, it seems that $2,000,000 would be a 

 fairly conservative estimate for the loss occasioned by bobo- 

 links in that year, especially if the injury done the rice 

 fields, and the cost of bird-minding were to be added ; but 

 the statement by Mr. Rice, that the rice industry of the 

 eastern coast is rapidly failing, puts a new face on the 

 matter. 



Prof. Charles E, Chambliss, expert in charge of rice in- 

 vestigations of the Department of Agriculture, furnished me 

 with statistics of the rice industry in South Carolina for 

 1907, 1908 and 1909. The farm value of the commercial 

 rice crop was $552,000 in 1907 and $433,000 in 1909. In 



