Rice Bird

Of the trio of migratory fowl that stood at the pinnacle of gastronomic glory for South Carolinians—the canvasback duck, the sora rail, and the rice bird—only the last cannot now be hunted. If one were to ask which lost food of our state is the most to be regretted, the answer must be the rice bird. Market gunning, greed, and the decline of the rice culture imperiled the population. Now the rice bird is an endangered and protected species.