After the transplanting, the grain needs constant attention; at first, to keep it properly weeded and flooded; later, to protect it from animals and birds.  Hence many workers are always in the fields, but it is, nevertheless, the happy time for the people, and if one approaches a group of workers unawares, he will hear one or more singing the daleng, a song in which they compliment or chide the other workers, or relate some incident of the hunt or of village life.  Toward midday little groups will gather in the field shelters to partake of their lunches, to smoke, or to rest, and usually in such a gathering will be a good story-teller who amuses with fables, or tales of adventure. [192]

When the rice begins to mature, an even stricter watch must be kept, for, in addition to its other enemies, the rice birds [193] now seek to feed on the crop and, while they are small in size, they often appear in such numbers that they work great havoc.

The usual device employed in frightening both birds and animals is a bamboo pole cut into strips at the top, so that, as it is shaken, these strike together, producing a great clatter.  Many of these poles are planted, and then all are connected by means of rattan lines which finally lead to the little watch house.  Here a man or boy sits and occasionally gives the lines a sudden jerk, which sets up a clapping over the whole field (Plate LIII).  A clever development of this device was seen by the writer in the Ikmin river valley.  Here the stream flows swiftly and plunges headlong into pools every few yards.  The rattan cord attached to the clappers is fastened to a small raft which is then set afloat in the pool.  After a whirl in the eddy it is caught by the swift current, and is carried a few feet down stream, at the same time bending the clappers nearly to the ground; then as the raft enters calmer water, the tension is released, and it is thrown violently back into the pool from which it has just drifted; at the same time the clappers fly back into place with a great noise.

Another contrivance, used in keeping small birds from the fields, is a bird-like form cut from the bark of a banana or palm tree.  Many of these are suspended by lines from bamboo poles, and, as the wind blows them to and fro, they appear like giant birds hovering over the rice.

A simple protection against deer is made by bending the white inner bark of bamboo into arches and planting these at intervals along possible places of entry, for it is said that these animals will not approach such a contrivance.