(top) — Male ring-necked pheasant in trap, (middle) — 

 Releasing- trapped birds in under-stocked area in Hill 

 County, (bottom) — Six sharptailed grouse caug-ht in a 

 pheasant trap. These birds were released in the Flat- 

 head Valley. 



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was not desirable to hurry the birds. It was very- 

 important to know where each member of the 

 flock was at all times, as one might be momen- 

 tarily overloked and, if approached too closely, 

 would fly. It was found that when one bird flew, 

 invariably the entire flock would follow. Bunches 

 of over 20 birds were found difficult to handle. 

 During the last part of the work a flock num- 

 bering approximately 700 birds was found. An 

 effort was made to cut away smaller numbers 

 from such large flocks. 



The birds were driven carefully into the wings 

 and then into the trap. From the chicken wire 

 section they were carefully driven into the fish 

 net portion of the trap. One of the crew would 

 then crawl in and capture the birds. They were 

 handed out under the netting to the man on the 

 outside who would put a band on the leg and 

 place the birds in the shipping crates. Six to seven 

 were placed in a single crate. 



It was found that a flock would drive well 

 into the wind but would fly if an attempt were 

 made to drive them with it. They drove well 

 uphill but very poorly downhill. There were many 

 other interesting characteristics which were dis- 

 covered during the work. This experience will be 

 highly valuable in carrying on any future trap- 

 ping and transplanting prgoram. 



CHINESE PHEASANT TRAPPING AND 

 TRANSPLANTING 



A limited program of live trapping and trans- 

 planting of Chinese pheasants was carried on 

 during the winter of 1941 and 1942. This work 

 was conducted in heavy pheasant concentrations 

 in Yellowstone County. An experimental phase 

 of the project was developed in Gallatin County. 



During January and early February approxi- 

 mately 250 birds were trapped. They were lib- 

 erated in Lewis and Clark and Hill counties. The 

 trapping was accomplished by the use of small 

 woven wire traps baited with wheat and corn. 



The introduction of these wild birds has 

 been found to be a very satisfactory method of 

 building up the numbers in desired areas. The 

 removal of a limited number of birds from loca- 

 tions of heavy concentration is beneficial as it 

 lessens the possibility of damage to agricultural 

 crops. 



