MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
T. G. Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
December 1959 
Vol. 2, No. 12 
W-30-R-13 R. F. Labisky 
The occupation of herbaceous cover by pheasants during late summer on the 
Sibley area was investigated. These data (see table 1) were collected by means 
of early morning roadside counts of pheasant broods seen during August, 1958; two 
standardised 40-mile routes were driven each week. The theoretical number of brids 
which might have been expected in each type of cover, if the pheasants had occupied 
the different cover types in proportion to the extent of these types, was calculated 
by proportioning the total number of birds observed to the proportionale amounts of 
the different types of herbaceous cover. A Chi-square test of independence indicated 
that cock pheasants utilized the different types of herbaceous cover in proportion 
to the amounts available but that hens with broods and broodless hens did not. 
Both hens with broods and broodless hens showed some tendency to utilize forage 
crops (tame hays and pastures) and small grains more than row crops (corn and 
soybeans) during late summer. 
Table 1.—Occupation of herbaceous cover by pheasants during late summer, 
Sibley area. 
Miles of 
Roadside 
Number of Cocks 
Number of 
Broodless Hens 
Number of Hens 
with Broods 
No. 
% 
Seen/Theoretical 
Seen/Theoretical 
Seen/Theoretical 
Forage Crops 
Small Grains 
Row Crops 
Total 
23.6 
19.7 
74.5 
117.8 
20.0 
16.7 
63.3 
100.0 
22 22.6 
26 18.9 
65 71.5 
113 113.0 
44 24.4 
22 20.4 
56 77.2 
122 122.0 
89 61.6 
81 51.4 
138 195.0 
308 308.0 
Chi-square Value 
Degrees of Freedom** 
6.058 
4 
42.943* 
4 
117.519* 
6 
^Significant at 0.001 level, which indicates pheasants were not distributed 
in proportion to the amounts of different types of cover. 
**Degrees of freedom vary because of statistical grouping of data within 
cover types. 
NATURa 
