br«ecl in this rogiou t»at tbttso are so fo» th&t they would be c&i«blo of 
doing x>ractlofilly uo harm and sei'ioua loroade are to bo feared only from 
the atiaoKB of migrant and winteriug birds* These edM- not begin to ar> 
rlvo hero until about Kovember 20 when oold weather driTosythem from 
their noxihoTtx feeding grounds. Any rioe that remaiue in shocks at this 
time will be eubjeot to attack and fros the ex^-'erience of this year it 
• . _ 
would aeoK that in sorAo casos it may be lost completely. Bather than 
chance this oontiugenoy the intelligent rioe grower should make every ef- 
fort to get his orop harvested and under shelter as early as possible. 
Otherwise he xuns chances of eustaining serious loss. 
In some oases it might be possible to save late rice when it was 
in danger of being attacked by ducas' by stacking the sheaves in round 
stacks with the heads to^^ard the oentor. This would effectually prevent 
any injury from birds. Such a method would entail handling the rioe a 
second time after it had once been shocked and so would add to the ex- 
pense of labor used in production. Thera would be eo'se additional loss 
of rioe in handling as the grain ’'shatters” or rattles off from the heads 
when dry but such losses would be small cos^red with the destruction of 
the entire yield. It might be possible to stack the grain in centralized 
areas where it could be threshed without necessity of hauling which would 
aid in reducing the expense of labor end loss by ahattaring. 
Damage by ducks bus been experienced here in slight amount on other 
years previous to 1917 but has baon so slight as to attract little atten- 
tion from all accounts. Suoh damage has always come in very wet years 
when shocked rioe was left out for a long time, liater standing in the 
rice stubble attracted ducks and these did more or less damage to the 
