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MONTHLY 1 ttLDLI HE RESEARCH LETTER LIBRARY 
Department of Conservation and Datura! History Survey, Cooperating 
T. G. Scott, Editor 
tirbana, Illinois 
January 1958 
Vol. 1, Ho. 1 
W-30-R-11 W. R. Hanson, R. F. Labisky 
Nearly U50 hunters were interviewed, and 290 bagged pheasants were ex¬ 
amined on the Sibley area during the 1957 hunting season. The age ratio of bagged 
cocks was U.58 juveniles:1 adult, compared to 12.5 juveniles:1 adult in 1956. 
Differential shooting of juveniles did not occur. The hunters required about 3*5 
hours to bag each cock, compared to 2.3 hours in 1956, and the hunters crippled and 
lost 2U»h per cent of the number of birds they bagged. 
Analysis of data indicated that only 20.3 per cent of the cock population 
was harvested on the Sibley area during the 1957 hunting season. The estimate was 
based on the change between the preseason sex ratio of 70.It cocks per 100 hens, 
obtained from the night-light trapping of 213 birds, and the postseason ratio of 
56.1 cocks per 100 hens, obtained from roadside counts of 2,388. pheasants during 
December and January. Comparable data showed that 73*3 per cent of the cocks were 
harvested during the 1956 hunting season. 
One hundred and seven pheasants were trapped on the Sibley area by 
night-lighting and were marked with plastic back-tags during December and January; 
these birds bring the total number of pheasants trapped and marked during the fall 
and x-jinter of 1957-58 to 359. 
A total of 315 observations on pheasants marked during 1957-58 were made 
during January, and in 280 observations (76.2 per cent) the birds were definitely 
identified. In addition, a total of 65 observations of pheasants marked during 
1956-57 were made during January, and in JLtl observations (63.1 percent) the birds 
were definitely identified. 
W-li2-R-7 R. D. Lord 
The reproductive data gathered during the breeding season of 1957 were 
analyzed. The first signs of breeding occurred during the last week in February 
when 18 per cent of the females showed sites of implantation of zygotes in the 
uterus. The last pregnant females were found during the second week in September. 
♦ 
OCT 9 1959 
NATURAL 
HISTORY SURVEY 
LIBRARY 
