- IB - 
the flhocic fr*siu«atly strlppeci tho exposed grain* 
Instances of douiage to shocked rice oane nnder personal ohserration 
In some of the fields examined. The eork of blaokhirds in mature rice may 
he readiiy distinguished from that of ducks as while the latter swallow 
t 
tho grain entire the blaokhirds crack off the rough more or less spinosely 
pphesoent hulls and eat only the rice grain itself* Damage fi’om this source 
was especially evl^ont in fields examined near De Witt* In the field be- 
longing to J* UoUillan described above it was estimated that about half of 
the damage inflicted was dons by blackbirds* hioe hulls were scattered in 
heaps about the bases of many of the shocks and could be scraped up in hand- 
t 
fuls* Uixod with these bulls were r^uantities of bird droppings of the sise 
and general appearance of blackbird exoreta* It would seem that the blaok- 
birdsc rattled off much grain in feeding as considerable amounts of good 
rioe were mixed through the saoplos of hulls examined* This loose grain 
was of course lost to the producer even though it was not eaten* 
Alfred Outasings of Hagler who has a threshing outfit stated that he 
had noticed many instanoes in fields where he had threshed of injury by 
bleokbirds* In eome instanoes whole sheaves would have the heads entire- 
4 
ly frayed out where the birds had been working on them* In certain oases 
he estimated from the subsequent yield in threshing that the losses from 
blaokblirds had run as bi^^ as ten bushels to the acre* 
T* P. Qibbe living near Hagler estimated that Bronzed Oraokles dur- 
jn g the first week in December had eaten about 300 bushels of rioe in one 
* ■ 
field belonging to him while the grain was still in the shook* Ue attrib- ; 
* t 
uted loss in this particular instance in part to the faot that the field 
was bordered by trees whioh gave the birds convenient resting places when 
they were not feeding* 
