188 



Ii.i.iNOis Natural History Survey Bulletin 



V^ol. 27, Art. 2 



census of quail populations. These cen- 

 suses were carried out during the period 

 1906-1909 by a strip-census technique 

 (Forbes & Gross 1921, 1922, 1923). The 

 increase in the density of quail popula- 

 tions from north to south in Illinois was 

 just as clearly marked in the findings of 

 Forbes and Gross as it is today. Cen- 

 suses during the summers of 1907 and 

 1909 revealed quail populations of 21 

 birds on 7,966.5 acres or 1 bird per 379.4 

 acres in northern Illinois, 53 birds on 

 5,823.9 acres or 1 bird per 109.9 acres in 

 central Illinois, and 241 birds on 5,527.2 

 acres or 1 bird per 22.9 acres in southern 

 Illinois (Forbes 5c Gross 1922:191, 197). 



A similar distribution of quail popula- 

 tion densities was evident in the winter 

 counts made during the period November 

 23, 1906, through February 21, 1907, 

 when 180 quail were counted on 1,422.4 

 acres or 1 bird per 7.9 acres in southern 

 Illinois and 54 on 4,956.0 acres or 1 bird 

 per 91.8 acres in central and northern 

 Illinois combined (Forbes «Sc Gross 1923: 

 398, 400). The data for the counts made 

 during the summers of 1907 and 1909 in- 

 dicated an increase in quail populations 

 for the state as a whole; 91 quail were 

 counted on 7,693.6 acres, 1 bird per 84.5 

 acres, in 1907 and 224 birds on 11,624.1 

 acres, 1 bird per 51.9 acres, in 1909 

 (Forbes 6c Gross 1922:191). 



The densities of quail populations were 

 recorded by general habitat category. In 

 a special study, August 19 to September 

 15, 1908, in which orchards in the vicin- 

 ity of Centralia and Olney received spe- 

 cial attention, 774.5 acres of orchard and 

 594.5 acres in other habitat categories 

 were censused ; 356 quail, 1 per 2.2 acres, 

 were counted in the orchards and 32, 1 

 per 18.6 acres, outside the orchard area 

 (Forbes & Gross 1921:5, 7). The im- 

 portance of undisturbed grassland to the 

 management of quail was suggested by 

 Forbes & Gross (1921 :3) in their consid- 

 eration of reasons for the high densities 

 of quail in orchards when they concluded : 

 "Evidently it is not the trees that attract 

 it, but the cover afforded by an undis- 

 turbed growth of grass and weeds be- 

 tween the rows." 



Following these early censuses, there 

 was a pause in the attention given quail 

 bv Natural Historx' Survev researchers. 



The species did not become the subject of 

 further study until the hunting season of 

 1936, when 141 quail were collected in 

 an investigation of helminth parasites bv 

 Leigh (1940:186, 190), who concluded 

 "that the quail of Illinois are not so heav- 

 ily infested with the diversity of helminth 

 parasites as are the quail of the southeast- 

 ern states." In the summer of 1938 a 

 brief investigation of quail productivity in 

 Calhoun County was carried out by Bell- 

 rose (1940:10), who pointed out the im- 

 portance of undisturbed grassland and 

 concluded that the possibilities for provid- 

 ing suitable nesting sites were greatest in 

 apple orchards. 



In 1948 and 1949 the hatchability of 

 the eggs of the bobwhite was compared 

 with that of the eggs of pheasants after 

 experimental exposure to temperatures of 

 62, 73, 78, 83, and 88 degrees F. for a 

 period of 7 days to simulate preincubation 

 exposure (Yeatter 1950:529). Yeatter 

 (1950:530) concluded that "No signifi- 

 cant reduction of hatchability of the bob- 

 white eggs by high temperatures was evi- 

 dent." 



Bobwhite quail were investigated from 

 1948 to 1954 on the Crab Orchard Na- 

 tional Wildlife Refuge, in Williamson 

 County, to determine what types of cover 

 importantly influenced the abundance of 

 quail (W. R. Hanson (Sc R. J. Miller un- 

 published MS). Quail abundance was 

 significantly correlated with the amount 

 of "edge" between cultivated fields and 

 brushy pastures. Twenty-five linear miles 

 of multiflora rose hedges, planted on an 

 area of about 5.5 square miles, failed to 

 increase the numbers of quail. 



A most important step was made in the 

 direction of a thoroughgoing investigation 

 of the biology of the bobwhite quail in 

 Illinois by the signing, on October 3, 

 1950, of a memorandum of understanding 

 providing for co-operation between the 

 Natural Histor\' Survey and Southern 

 Illinois University. The observations and 

 impressions (Scott <Sc Klimstra 1954) ob- 

 tained during a trip to quail management 

 areas in southeastern United States for 

 the purpose of co-ordinating this co-oper- 

 ative program of research in Illinois with 

 work elsewhere are believed noteworthy 

 and cover the following subjects: hunting, 

 management of habitat, and populations. 



