THE BOBOLINK. 15 
It is estimated that the bobolinks, with a little help from the red- 
wings, cause an annual loss of $2,000,000 to the rice growers of the 
South." Much of this loss is indirect, arising from the necessity of 
maintaining a corps of men and boys as ‘bird-minders,’ who patrol 
the fields from morning till night, firing guns or cracking whips to 
frighten the birds from the ripening crop. Even then it is impossible 
to save all the rice, and it often happens that some acres on the bor- 
ders of the uncultivated marsh where the birds resort are so badly 
eaten that they are not worth harvesting. 
As a rule, the shooting is only to frighten the birds, as the use 
of shot would cause as much harm to the rice as is done by the birds. 
The amount of powder consumed in this way is enormous. It is not 
uncommon to use 100 pounds per annum, and one planter who culti- 
vates a large plantation uses 2,500 pounds in the course of a year. 
Col. John Screven, of Savannah, Ga., in writing of the ravages of 
the ricebird (bobolink), says: 
Its invasions are ruinous to fields on which its flocks may settle, especially if the 
grain is in palatable condition and in fields adjacent to marshes convenient for 
ambush or retreat. Bird-minders, armed with muskets and shotguns, endeavor by 
discharges of blank cartridges to keep the birds alarmed and to drive them from the 
field. Small shot are also fired among them, and incredible numbers are killed; but 
all such efforts will not prevent great waste of grain, amounting to a loss of large 
portions of a field—sometimes, indeed, to its entire loss. The voracity of the birds 
seems so intense that fear is secondary to it, and they fly, when alarmed, from one 
portion of the field to another, very little out of gunshot, and immediately settle down 
to their banquet. * * * The preventives in use against the ravages of the rice- 
birds have been already suggested, but they are palliative only, applied at great 
expense, and without commensurate results. * * * Inshort, no effort yet tried 
consistent with reasonable economy will drive the ricebird from the field or afford 
any well-founded promise of their reduction to harmless numbers. 
A more specific case of damage is that of a field mentioned by Mr. 
J. A. Hayes, jr., of Savannah, Ga., which consisted of 125 acres of rice 
that matured when birds were most plentiful, and which, in spite of 
18 bird-minders and 11 half kegs of gunpowder, yielded only 18 bushels 
per acre of inferior rice, although it had been estimated to yield +5 
bushels. 
Capt. William Miles Hazzard, of Annandale, 8. C., says: 
During the nights of August, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, millions of these birds 
make their appearance and settle in the rice fields. From August 21st to September 
25th our every effort is to save the crop. Men, boys and women are posted with 
guns and ammunition to every four or five acres, and shoot daily an average of about 
one quart of gunpowder to the gun. This 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 check to the 
crop during its growth which prevents the grain from being hard but in a milky 
condition, the destruction of the rice is complete—not paying to cut and bring out of 
1 Report of Department of Agriculture for 1886, p. 247. 
