Vo 1. 6, No. 7 
Page 2 
3. Factors Influencing Pistribution and Abundance W. L. Anderson, 
of Pheasants S. L. Wunderle 
Forty-one pheasant nests, most of which were found in hayfields after the hay 
had been mowed, raked, and removed from the fields, were examined on the Neoga 
area during the 1963 nesting season. The origin of the hens establishing 22 of 
the 41 nests included 11 (50 percent) native hens, 7(32 percent) wild, transplan¬ 
ted hens from Champaign County, and 4 (18 percent) game-farm reared Korean hens; 
19 nests were produced by hens of undetermined origin. No Japanese green hens 
were observed in association with any of the nests. The average number of eggs 
occurring in 20 nests that were incubated was 12.2 + 0.9; three successful nests 
contained an average of 9*3 + 0.5 hatched eggs. Thus, hens from three of the four 
strains of pheasants present on the area in 1963 established nests which contained 
as many eggs as those of pheasants within the established range of Illinois. 
4. Responses of Bobwhites and Prairie Chickens to J. A. Ellis, 
Habitat Manipulation R. J. Ellis 
Counts of prairie chickens on the five established booming grounds on the Bo¬ 
gota study area in 1963 revealed that the greatest number of chickens visited the 
booming grounds during the last week of March and the first week of April, Table 
2. The intensity of booming by cocks also appeared to be highest during this per¬ 
iod. Hens were seen on the booming grounds from early March through mid-June, but 
visited the grounds most frequently on the days when booming by cocks was at a 
high 1 evel. Counts were made on clear mornings during the first hour after sun¬ 
rise and from a distance with field glasses to prevent disturbing the birds. 
Table 2. Counts of prairie chickens on booming grounds, Bogota study area, 
1963 . 
Date 
Numbers of Prairie Chickens 
on Booming 
Grounds 
Beam 
Johnson 
Shackman 
Refuge 
Woods 
All 
February 19 
—* 
mt mm 
15 
mm 
46 
March 21 
3 
-- 
16 
-- 
44 
-- 
March 22 
-- 
13 
-- 
8 
41 
•m mm 
March 27 
4 
18 
11 
5 
41 
79 
April 2 
3 
13 
16 
6 
36 
74 
April 5 
4 
22 
17 
10 
36 
89 
April 12 
4 
23 
2 
5 
27 
61 
April 20 
4 
14 
10 
5 
23 
56 
April 28 
0 
12 
6** 
3 
21** 
42 
May 7 
0 
14 
16 
3 
23** 
56 
May 13 
0 
13 
14 
2 
10 
39 
May 27 
0 
12 
5 
0 
17 
34 
June 3 
1 
7 
12 
0 
7 
27 
June 10 
5 
3 
2 
0 
0 
10 
June 17 
4 
3 
7 
0 
8 
22 
June 24 
0 
0 
0 
0 
6 
6 
Daily Average 
2.3 
11.9 
9.9 
3.4 
24.0 
37.2 
* Grounds not censused; these days excluded from daily averages. 
** Estimates—accurate counts not achieved because of tall vegetation. 
