Haring the period from August 16 to October 17, 1918 a cureful 
study of tbs relation of wild duoks to rioe oulture was node in the 
Sacramento Valley California* About 130,000 mores were devoted to 
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rice that year in the counties of Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter, Tolo 
and Tuba* 
Rioe in this region was grown largely upon low lying lands, 
with alkaline soils, that have been un suited for other fonts of oul- 
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tivation, and hare not heretofore been utilised for agrioulture* Con- 
piderable numbers of Pintails and Mallards breed here in marshes and 
e 
sloughs and many more come here in late summer from other regions* 
These birds were attracted by the water and food found in the rioe 
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fields and when the rioe filled began to eat the grain* The birds fed 
on moonlit nights or at dusk and daybreak* The first damage was done 
in areas where the stand of rioe was thin but from thefts the duoks 
worked out into the heavier growth* 
In experimenting with methods of controlling this damage it was 
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found that while the use of aerial bombs that exploded among the birds with- 
out injuring them was a valuable means of driving the duoks out it soon 
V • * ' .¥ . .v . aCWB *y ■ v. i * 
lost its effioaoy unless aooompanied by actual shooting* As the duck's 
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in question are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty lot it 
was necessary to grant permission to rioe growers to kill duoks under 
suitable restriction before the opening of the legal hunting season, and 
to allow these same men to shoot at night when the season opened* 
These measures were entirely successful* The rice destroyed by 
the birds was estimated to be worth about ft 13, 500 while had these steps 
