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FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Nov. 13, 1909. 
Blackbirds and Bobolinks. 
Jersey City, N. J., Nov. 6. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: We all know that the various black¬ 
birds perform great services to man by destroy¬ 
ing noxious insects, but they also do much harm 
by their destruction of grain crops. For this 
reason in some States they are not protected 
under the general law which covers the song 
birds and small birds generally. In the South 
during the winter the rice birds and some other 
species do enormous damage in the rice fields, 
and the hiring of shooters to kill or drive them 
away from these fields at certain seasons of the 
year becomes a considerable item of expense 
to the planter. 
How much of this work is done by the black¬ 
birds? It is credited chiefly to the bobolink or 
ricebird (Dolichonyx), concerning which in this 
relation much has been written. Dr. C. Hart 
Merriam in 1886 spoke of the rice industry in 
the Southern States as being crippled by the 
semi-annual attacks of birds, and said that the 
bird that does more injury than all the rest 
combined is the bobolink.” He quoted testi¬ 
mony from rice growers in the South, most of 
which seems to refer to the bobolink, and some 
of his correspondents declared that the loss of 
rice per acre seldom falls under five bushels 
and under some conditions is complete. Twenty 
years later H. W. Henshaw, of the Biological 
Survey, takes the ground that this damage is 
done by the bobolink. 
Is it certain, however, that all this destruc¬ 
tion, or even the most of it, is caused by the 
bobolink? Is it not the fact that in this matter 
some of our other Ictcridcc are equally guilty 
with the bobolink? May not the cowbirds, the 
red-winged blackbirds and perhaps other black¬ 
birds contribute to the planter’s losses in the 
South as they do to those of the farmer in 
New England? We know that in the wild rice- 
fields of the North, when the seed is ripe, as 
many red-winged blackbirds as bobolinks are 
found feeding on the grain. Wilson declares 
that the red-winged starlings are found in win¬ 
ter in the vicinity of large rice and cornfields, 
and that they feed on the gleanings of these 
fields, and while he describes the vast amount 
of service which they perform by destroying 
insects, he also tells of the damage which they 
work in the cornfields, precisely as we see them 
working them to-day. 
Early last September I happened to be in 
Montana, and near the house where I was stay¬ 
ing were some stacks of unthreshed oats cut 
for hay. The oats were a little riper than they 
should have been for hay. Here, morning and 
evening, dense flocks of blackbirds were seen 
feeding on the unthreshed oats in the stacks. 
Most of these were crow blackbirds and Brewer’s 
blackbirds, but there were also some redwings, 
some yellowheads and some cowbirds. In the 
morning when the blackbirds flew into the 
corrals in thick flocks, the sound of their wings 
was like a great rushing wind. Their numbers 
blackened the tops of the stacks and besides this 
there were multitudes on the corral fence and 
on two or three trees that were swinging 
nearby. 
Not long ago, in Connecticut, I passed through 
a field of ten or fifteen acres which a farmer 
had planted to sweet corn for seed. The black¬ 
birds had attacked this field and torn away the 
husks from the ends of the ears and destroyed 
the grain for from two to three inches down 
the cob. In the same neighborhood I was shown 
a field of yellow corn in the same condition. 
This yellow corn must have been attacked when 
in the milk and in some cases the grain was 
stripped from the cob for six inches from the 
end. In some instances the rain had soaked 
down on to the grain inside the husk so that the 
corn was mildewed. 
It would be difficult to say how much dam¬ 
age these blackbirds had done, but where they 
had attacked the ears they had no doubt re¬ 
duced the crop one-third. This, however, had 
not taken place over all the fields. The dam¬ 
age seemed to be chiefly on the margins of the 
field extending fifteen or twenty yards in from 
these margins. I should suppose that the corn 
devoured and destroyed must have numbered 
many bushels, and when corn is worth sixty- 
five cents a bushel, the destruction of ten or a 
hundred bushels would become quite an item 
worth considering. Country. 
Moose for New Zealand. 
When civilized man first came to New Zea¬ 
land he found there no wild mammals and no 
birds that could be called game birds, though 
there were a few wildfowl. In time the British 
love for sport led to the introduction of pheas¬ 
ants and European red deer from the old world, 
and of various forms of American game birds 
and fish. Of these the pheasants, red deer and 
North American fish prospered astonishingly, as 
has been shown by the many accounts which 
Forest and Stream has published of sport in 
New Zealand. There are flourishing acclimita- 
zation societies at Otago and elsewhere. 
Encouraged by the success of the introduced • 
red deer the Government of New Zealand de¬ 
termined to experiment with the moose, for 
which the wide mountains, heavily overgrown 
with forest and underbrush, seem well suited. 
Early last spring, therefore. Sir Joseph Ward, 
the Premier of New Zealand, explained to Hon. 
A. Forget, Lieutenant-Governor of Saskatche¬ 
wan, that the Government of New Zealand was 
anxious to experiment with some of the big 
game of the Canadian Northwest, and asked 
his assistance. The correspondence was turned 
over to Howard Douglas, of Banff, Commis¬ 
sioner of Dominion Parks, but the season was 
then so far advanced that nothing could be done 
about the matter at that time. Early this spring, 
howev.er, Mr. Douglas instructed an old hunter 
to try to secure twenty young moose, and of 
this order seventeen have already been brought 
together. 
Like most young ungulates, these animals have 
become very tame. They are fed on cow’s milk 
and are supplied with brush and browse. It is 
expected that before very long they will sail 
on the Canadian-Australian liner Marama for 
their new home in the distant south. 
If they reach New Zealand in good order and 
do well there—as there is no reason to doubt 
they will—a few years’ protection should be 
sufficient to stock certain portions of the islands 
so that a limited amount of shooting may be 
done. The Saskatchewan and Alberta govern¬ 
ments have readily granted permits to ship these 
animals out of the country and they go under 
excellent auspices. 
Arbor Day in Hawaii. 
Governor Frear, of Hawaii, has issued the 
following proclamation : 
“The practice of setting aside one day each 
year as Arbor Day began in Hawaii in 1905 
Since then, on the mainland, and especially dur¬ 
ing the last year in Hawaii, the larger move 
ment for the conservation and development 0 
all natural resources, of which Arbor Day rep 
resents only one phase, has received tremend 
ous impetus. Not only has the public conscieno 
and interest been quickened on this subject, bu 
it has taken practical form in the inauguratioi 
and extension of actual work in many direction 
in this Territory, rendered possible by the broai 
and far-sighted action of the last Legislature 
It is, therefore, fitting that this year the scop? 
of the day be enlarged, and, accordingly, I here 
by designate Friday, the 12th day of Novembei 
1909, as Arbor and Conservation Day for th 
Territory of Hawaii, and recommend that 0 
that day appropriate exercises be held in a 
the schools of the Territory and that a part o, 
the day be devoted to the planting of trees an 
shrubs.” 
Eagles in New England. 
The Highland residents report a fine sight tl 
past few days owing to the presence in th; 
locality of a number of bald eagles. The Sprini 
field Republican correspondent says that four c 
the eagles were seen, evidently a pair of 0 
birds and two young eagles. Their white heac 
could be plainly seen and their calls distinct 
heard as they circled gracefully over the Won 
noco Valley. While it is not generally know 
eagles have nested in this section as far bat 
as can be remembered. One pair had a ne 
about two years ago near the brick yard 
Middle Farms, and a man shot a young on 
mistaking it for a hawk. This young bird w 
mounted and is in the normal school collectio 
These handsome birds have often been sei 
around the ponds in the East Otis section f 
many years. It is against the law to sho 
eagles. 
That Tale from the ! North. 
Las Animas, Colo., Oct. 29.— Editor Fort 
and Stream: It has been reported in pape 
that the fence and range of the Pablo buffi 
herd in Alberta had been burned and that t 
buffalo had escaped. The facts are that or 
3,000 acres of their pasture was burned, and tl 
none of the animals escaped. It is seventy-fi 
miles around the pasture and the elk and bt 
falo are all inside. 
Many settlers suffered from the prairie fit 
-—even some lives were lost—but the Gover 
ment will furnish seed to those needing it a 
will otherwise assist them. 
The G. T. P. R. Ry. is running trains thi 
times a week through this section now and w 
soon have daily trains. F. T. Webber 
The Forest and Stream may he obtained 
any newsdealer on order. Ask your dealer 
supply you regularly. 
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