States and Guam. Twelve species or subspecies, 

 10 of which are pheasants, occupy farm and adja- 

 cent brushland habitats. Six are potentially 

 adaptable to rangelands and dry farmlands; and 

 three are woodland species. Areas in which the 

 releases are being made lie mainly in the east- 

 central, southern, southwestern, and far-western 

 States. 



No new game birds were obtained or recom- 

 mended for trial in 1963. Program personnel 

 continued to assist cooperating States in the selec- 

 tion of release sites and evaluation of previous lib- 

 erations. Much of their time was spent in pro- 

 viding technical suggestions relative to product ion, 

 on State game farms, of quality stock well condi- 



tioned for survival upon release in the wild. 

 During the year, 25 States reared and liberated 

 23,958 birds of 19 species or subspecies, mostly 

 to supplement previous releases. 



Although it is still too early to evaluate results 

 for most species under trial, some trends are 

 evident. Iranian pheasants, black francolin, and 

 gray francolin have definitely demonstrated the 

 ability to survive, reproduce, and increase sub- 

 stantially in a number of release locations. Con- 

 versely, Indian sandgrouse have disappeared, and 

 Reeves pheasants are barely hanging on. Six 

 other species are maintaining themselves in num- 

 bers great enough to justify guarded optimism, 

 and two others have probably failed. 



The Iranian black-necked pheasant, brought to the United States through the Foreign Game Introduction Program, 

 now occurs in more than 40 counties of Virginia and in smaller numbers in several other southern and southeastern 

 States. This pheasant appears adaptable to semihumid forest-farmland habitats where ring-necked pheasants have 

 failed to survive. (Photo by Virginia Commission of Game and Inland Fisheries) 



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