stockmen in the West in winter feeding of livestock. Approximately 800 deer 
visited the feeding area daily. ) 
A graduate student engaged in the life history and management study of 
the sage grouse has spent a total of 165 days in the field. During this time 
el grouse were banded, 50 stomachs were collected for food-habit study, and 
63 nests were located and studied during incubation period. Strutting, feeding, 
nesting, dust bathing, growth of young, flocking, migration, and other habits 
were observed and notes recorded. A detailed type map was made covering 50,500 
acres of Strawberry Vailey, an area of sage grouse concentration. A survey of 
present distribution and numbers of the species is being conducted by the use 
of 10,000 questionnaire cards. An experiment showing the possibility of loss 
of sage grouse from botulism also was conducted. 
In a sharp-tailed grouse survey and life history study, which has been 
completed, only a few thousand of the birds were found in the entire State. A 
strong correlation has been shown by this study between the presence of remnants 
of original grass areas and present occurrence of this grouse. 
Twenty-five quadrats were established on the Bear River marshes in water-— 
fowl-food plant studies. From.these quadrats 275 vegetative samples for qualita- 
tive and quantitative analyses were taken. A similar number of water samples and 
soil samples for determination of the salt content were collected. Tests for pH 
values, and for oxygen concentration were performed in the field. Highty water 
samples were taken for analysis of the microbiota. Eleven quadrats were estab-— 
lished at the Farmington Bay area, and 120 soil samples were taken there. 
A detailed type map was made of the beaver study area, which included 18 
miles of stream and 101 beaver dams. In the fall, under the direction of the 
State Fish and Game Department, 100 beavers were removed from this area. A 
State-wide survey of beaver distribution and abundance has been completed. 
TEXAS UNIT--LEADER APPOINTED DECEMBER 10, 1935 
The work on a survey of the wildlife resources of Walker County, Tex., 
is about 75 percent complete. It has included taking an extensive quail census 
on 9,089 acres; preparing maps of the areas about eight field camps, totaling 
9,521 acres; collecting birds, mammals, reptiles,-and amphibians, and studying 
their habits; taking a cat-dog-hog census; and studying the wildlife utility of 
the principal vegetative types. 
Notable was the successful completion of fall and spring quail censuses, 
in which both man-and-dog counts and C. C. C. counts were utilized. Coveys to 
the number of 71 were located on 5,714 acres in the fall count. Acres per quail 
varied from approximately 5 on the experimental tracts to 60 in some areas of 
pine timber. 
In the study of bobwhite quail management in Texas, critical attention is 
being giventhe effects of the introduction of Mexican Quail. Mexican and Virginia 
birds are being mated in pens and in the wild, and young birds raised in the field 
are being trapped and banded. An intensive study is being made of characters of 
the parent stocks and of the hybrids between them. A cooperative quail introduc- 
tion project has been arranged with certain Brazos County sportsmen. Damage to 
hatching quail by acrobatic ants (Crematogaster laeviuscula var. clara Emery) has 
been found. A collapsible quail trap has been developed. _ 
ER ie 
