No. 4.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 221 



iiig a time when a large uiimbcr Hocked together. One of the 

 negToes said that he often frightened up the birds in the 

 rice fields and shot into the flocks as thej flew, but I saw 

 nothing like this. One man with a full bag told me that he 

 had 8 dozen birds at noon and that he killed 16 dozen the day 

 before. Another stated that he had 6 dozen so far, and shot 

 about 12 or 13 dozen daily on an average, but that formerly 

 he used to get 14 or 15 dozen, or even more, when the birds 

 were numerous. He said it was not unusual formerly to 

 kill 20 to 30 dozen at night, and sometimes even 40 dozen, 

 but all the negroes that I talked with agreed that they were 

 getting very few at night now. Some said that nights must 

 be dark for successful hunting. They said that they received 

 20 cents a dozen now for " shoot " birds and 25 to 30 cents 

 for " ketch " birds. One gunner said that when he could 

 not get 25 cents a dozen he would knock off. 



Canals bordered on both sides by dikes enter the rice fields 

 from the river. Here and there on the dikes are patches of 

 small cane, and the banks are lined with flags, reeds, rushes 

 and other water plants. Ditches run around each field about 

 a rod from the dike. A negro shoots sometimes from the 

 cover of vegetation on the dike, but usually approaches the 

 birds crouchingly over the marshes. Some use muzzle-load- 

 ing guns, others breechloaders, buying their shells loaded. 

 At noon a dozen men and boys were counting up their fore- 

 noon's bag on a dike, and if their count can be relied upon, 

 they had about 1,000 birds. Every man but one that I saw 

 had a gun and was shooting birds. This one was carrying 

 a tin pail and was a rice harvester. He said that rice har- 

 vesting paid better than shooting ricebirds. Sometimes he 

 said the gunners did not get any ricebirds at all. He said 

 he never had had a gun or shot birds in his life. Another 

 stated that he had been shooting since he was ten years old. 

 He shoots ducks in the rivers, birds in the marsh, and any- 

 thing that can be sold or used for food. The man who did 

 not shoot had a long whip with a sh(n-t, wooden handle and 

 a lash about 15 feet long made of old rope. He said that this 

 would scare the birds more than a gun. He picked it up, 



