See quotation 1795.
1747. [The] Rice-birds go to Carolina annually [when] Rice begins to ripen.—Phil. Trans., xliv. 438. (N.E.D.)
1775. Meadow larks, fieldfares, rice birds, &c. &c. are very frequently had.—B. Romans, ‘Florida,’ p. 114.
1777.
| Next comes in Sir H——y Cl——ton, | |
| With looks as fierce as De’el o’er Lincoln | |
| And swore he’d make the rice-birds think on. | |
Maryland Journal, Dec. 9. |
1795. A wonderful variety of small birds; among which, the reed-bird, or American ortolan, justly holds the first place: they visit us from the south, and are found at certain seasons as far as the West Indies in that direction.—W. Priest, ‘Travels in the U.S.’ (1802), pp. 89–90. (N.E.D.) (Italics in the original.)
1850. New books are cut open with the cast-away fruit knives or exhausted corset bones, and critiques upon the drama or the new novels are as plentiful and gregarious as the Jersey reed birds.—D. G. Mitchell, ‘The Lorgnette,’ ii. 258 (1852).
1862. These islands [in the Delaware River] are pushed over in skiffs at high tide by sportsmen when shooting reed bird and rail.—Mr. John C. Ten Eyck of N.J., U.S. Senate, July 11: Cong. Globe, p. 3246/3.
*** The bird is evidently alluded to by Andrew Burnaby in his ‘Travels in North America,’ 1775, p. 53–4:—
The sorus is not known to be in Virginia, except for about six weeks from the latter end of September: at that time they are found in the marshes in prodigious numbers, feeding upon the wild oats. At first they are exceedingly lean, but in a short time grow so fat, as to be unable to fly: in this state they lie upon the reeds, and the Indians go out in canoes and knock them on the head with their paddles. They are rather bigger than a lark, and are delicious eating.
