232 The Bobolink 



very effective remedy, but as the bobolinks soon became 

 accustomed to them, they too proved ineffectual. 



The turkey-buzzards are very plentiful in the South, 

 and an attempt has been made to use them in frighten- 

 ing the bobolinks. For this purpose, poles from ten 

 to twelve feet high were set up in various parts of the 

 rice fields, at the tops of which were small platforms, 

 and upon these meat was placed to attract the buzzards. 

 These large birds flying about were mistaken by the 

 bobolinks for hawks, and for a time this worked 

 admirably, but as soon as the birds discovered their 

 mistake the buzzards no longer alarmed them. 



The bobolink question in the South is indeed a 

 serious one, and the circumstances connected with it, 

 though probably natural, are extremely interesting to a 

 student of bird life. The bobolinks make havoc in 

 the rice fields because man has selected for his own use 

 the resting and feeding places which the birds have had 

 since before the settlement of the country. If either 

 is an usurper it is man. From the early bird history it 

 is noted that the habits of the bobolink have remained 

 practically the same; namely, the course of migration, 

 the food habits, the love for the open meadow where it 

 nests, and the points of departure and return to the 

 United States are all unchanged. 



When the forests of the Northern States gave place 



