licrs in Illinois for small areas (townships) and for any 

 one season (winter, spring, or summer). However, be- 

 cause the variable factors did not difTer greatly during 

 the 2 years of the censuses, they are regarded as having 

 little influence on the reliability of the population trends 

 that are presented for the Illinois pheasant range as a 

 whole. 



DISTRIBUTION AND ABUNDANCE DATA 



The range of the pheasant in Illinois, as mapped 

 by Wagner & Resadny (1958:5). is part of a more or 

 less continuous belt of wild populations extending from 

 southeastern Wisconsin through northeastern and east- 

 central Illinois, northern Indiana, southern Michigan, 

 and eastward into Ohio and Pennsylvania, fig. 9. From 

 Illinois eastward to the Atlantic Coast, the approximate 

 southern limit of the range as reported by ^'eatter 

 (1953:7) is marked by the 40th parallel; the 40th par- 

 allel can be located in fig. 9 by extending the Kansas- 

 Nebraska line eastward. Most of the range occupied by 

 pheasants in Illinois is north of the 40th parallel, but 

 some pheasants are found south of this line, principally 

 in Champaign, Douglas, Vermilion, and Edgar counties. 



Robertson (1958:2-5) traced the early introduction 

 of pheasants by private individuals in Illinois back to 

 1890 and reported that pheasants were first distributed 

 In the state by the Illinois Game Commission (now Illi- 

 nois Department of Conservation) in 1906. The early 

 optimism of the Illinois legislature in opening the first 

 hunting season for pheasants in 1915 reflected the grow- 

 ing availability of the bird either from game-farm re- 

 leased pheasants or localized wild populations. 



The first map of the distribution of pheasants in 

 Illinois and .several other north-central states was com- 

 piled by Leopold (19.31:106) from data accumulated 

 during 1928 and 1929. A reproduction of the Illinois 

 portion of this map, modified to show only the general 

 distribution of pheasants, is presented in fig. 10. It is 

 apparent from Leopold's map that the earliest establish- 

 ment of pheasants on a large scale in Illinois occurred 



ABUNDANCE RATING 



^^M EXCELLENT L'.'.'.'.-l FAIR 



V-'y-'i GOOD I I POOR OR NONE 



Fig. 9. — -Generalized map of the distribution and relative 

 abundance of pheasants in the north-central states in the 19,5n's 

 (after Wagner & Besadny 1958; 5). 



OlSTRIBUTrON Of PHEASANTS 

 1929 



■mm ESTABLISHEO RANGE 

 irm SCATTEHING OR 



INDETERMINATE 



RANGE 



Fig. 10. — Distribution 

 and abundance of pheasants 

 in Illinoi.s, 1929 (modified 

 from Leopold 1931:106). 



COCKS KILLED PER HUNTER 

 1937 



Fig. 11. — ■ Distribution 

 and abundance of pheasants 

 in Illinois as mapped from 

 data obtained from license- 

 stub questionnaires distrib- 

 uted to hunters during the 

 1937 hunting season (after 

 Carl O. Mohr unpublished 



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