218 



BIRDS OF JSToRTH CAROLINA 



vents 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." 



In the spring of 1913, H. H. Brimley and T. W. Adickes found Ricebirds so 

 plentiful on the Orton Plantation, below Wilmington, that the owner found it 

 necessary to protect his ripening oat crop by means of boys with guns. The birds 

 were noted as being very persistent in their attacks on the oats. 



FIG. 170. BOBOLINK. 

 (A male in Nuptial Plumage.) 



From this it can be seen how destructive this bird may be in certain sections. 

 In early days they doubtless fed on the seeds of wild marsh grasses, but the culti- 

 vation of rice furnished them with an easy and abundant supply of food right in 

 their path, and they naturally proceeded to make use of it. As very little rice is 

 now grown in North Carolina, these birds do the State much less harm than in 

 former times; the same may now be said of South Carolina, and the above quota- 

 tions regarding their depredations on rice are chiefly of interest as a matter of 

 ornithological history. 



Although this bird usually breeds only in the Northern States, it has been de- 

 tected nesting in Louisiana and suspected of breeding in Florida, and in this con- 

 nection it may be interesting to note that Seeman reports seeing two males at Dur- 

 ham on June 17 and one on June 28, 1903. 



