Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-09-20
THE RICE BIRD.

Some Tntarestfnp Facts About the Little
FowI-where They Come from and
How They TraveI-The Reed Bird OF
the Virginias and the Dat Bird OF the
Western Grain Fields-A Morsel Tor
the Epicure and "A Pest to the Rice
PIanter-NoveI Methods to Drive Them
from the Fields.
The rice bird is well known among our
people not only as a. delicious morsel lor
the epicure, but as a destructive pest IN
the rice fields, where the amount OF mis-
chief done in one day is incalculable.
They are found over large portion OF
the United States, and especially in the
territory from Florida to Texas on the
south. and from Nova Scotia to the plains
Of the Missouri on the North. They are
fond of lowlands, elevated situations only
occasionally being chosen. In this
locality they manifest considerable DIS
trust. stunning rather than counting
the society of man, although IN Georgia
and in South Carolina they consort with the
killdee pIOyers about the yards ana out
buiIdines. showing wonderful familiarity.
They are indiscriminate feeders. Ihelr
food consists of seeds of various kinds.
I'm the sDring they are known as the May
bIrd when they pass Northward, picking
IN the Young rice just after III is sOWn In
the trenches. In the West they are known
as the Oat bird, and do vast amount OF
injury to the young wheat Just coming
from the ground.
About the middle of August or early in
Sentember. this same bird emigrates
Southwark reaching Virginia early In
August. There they receive the cognO-
men of reed birds. on account OF their IN
satiate appetite for young reeds ana via
celery along the James river. Ihey drllU
rapidly down until among the marshes,
where they are eagerly hunted uhueF Ihe
same name by spOrtsmen.
Soon afterwards they swarm among the
rice fields of South Carolina and Georgia.
They are now called rice birds. coming
i'm fI0cks of from five to eight thousand
and settling on a rice plantation, ana IN
twenty-four hours they destroy, great
quantities of the young rice, Whlle 1t Is
vet in its milky form.
In October they bolt again among the
West Indies, where they feed upon the
seeds of a species Of grass when rehuers
them exceedingly fat. The sporting ira
ternity here call them butter blrds, ana
vast. numbers are destroyed Tor the
table. They render immense ser
wee to the cultiyators OF sea
island cotton by destroying the
Larvae of the obnoxious cotton worm. The
means employed by rice planters 10 get
rid of them is sometimes very mover:
Oftentimes a key of powder IS procured
and used up in the hrlng OF Dlalk
cartridges i'm efforts TO keep theih out Oi
the fields. Last week one of our well
known rice planters on the Savannah
river concluded not to use the mild
poyVer.,' but to adopt ''herOic methods
in the radiance of the pests, so he pro-
cured four little boys with d0uDle-Darrel
shotgIIns and gave them twenty POUNDS OF
mustard seed shot and told them 10 DlaZe
away. AT the end of the week the boys
counted up $50 birds which they mad
brought down.
When first brought into the market the
birds are sold at eNtravagant prlces-Tl
per dOZen-and are served up at our res
taurants on toast for seventy-hVe cents
dish.
Dyspeptics avoid them as they would
a hVdra-headed monster, but eplcures dOte
upon them This dish in the South is held
i'm the same high repute with our good
livers as the canvas back duck and celery
used to be in the epicurean days OF OLD
Guy in Baltimore.
The great objection with most of our
restaurants in the South Is said to be the
ignorance of how to prepare them. Con-
nossieurs say they should be kept for a few
DAYS i'm order to become well seasoned.
They should be brOiled and only allowed
to remain oyer the Goals for few minutes;
i'm other words, not allowed to be cooked
like the various kinds OF meats, such as
beef mutton, lamb and veal. There is
Just as much art in properly preparing
rice bird for the table as there is in pre-
pairing the different cOlors to paint beau
tiful landscape.
Archestratus. the renowned maker OF
dishes, once said there is no limit to the
art of preparing game. No doubt he could
nave made an excellent dish out of these
delicate birds. 1t has been said, and no
doubt it is an old legend, that whenever
a thunderstorm approaches and the loud
raps of thunder are heard, the rice birds
stop Immediately from feeding and bury
themselves as far in the grgInd as they
can possibly get. In their tlocks they
have leader. When he makes move the
flock follows. His position is on the
/ highest stalk in the rice field, and when
he gives the alarm to quit, the flock rises
up en- mdSSe and makes a bee line to some
other field of pasture. over two hundred
! dozen of these birds were shipped North
! during the past month, Delmonlco and
| the proprietOrs of the Cafe Brunswick,
! New york, having sent special orders for
/ them early in the season.