Vol * 7, No. 3 
Page 2 
^ 2. M anipulation of Pheasant Habitat G* B< Joselyn 
Pheasant nests were established on seeded and on control roadside plots in 
19^3 during the 15-week period between April 22 and August 4. The following data 
were obtained from 37 of 85 nests established on seeded and on control plots: 
The seasonal pattern of nest establishment was similar for 21 nests on seeded 
and 16 nests on control plots, although a more pronounced peak of establishment 
occurred on the latter. Approximately 38 percent (6 of 16) of all nests establish¬ 
ed on control plots were initiated during the 2-week period of May 20-June 2; 44- 
percent (7 of 16) of all nests of known dates of establishment on control plots 
were initiated before May 20; and more than 81 percent (13 of 16 nests) had been 
started by June 3- 
On seeded plots, high points of nest establishment occurred the weeks of May 
6-19 and June 3-16; approximately 24 percent (5 of 21) of all nests on seeded plots 
were started during each of these weeks. On these plots, siightly over 57 percent 
(12 of 21) of all nests having known dates of establishment had been initiated 
by June 3* 
The pattern of nest establishment on the study plots during 19&3 differed 
from that of the previous year. During 1962, nest establishment on control plots 
reached a peak considerably earlier than on seeded plots, where tilling and seed¬ 
ing during April and May had disturbed the vegetation. In 1962, the peak of nest 
establishment on seeded plots occurred during the 2-week period of June 2-15- 
f) 
3• Factors 1nf1uencinq Pistribut ion and Abundance of Pheasants 
W, L. Anderson, S. L. Wunderle 
Seven hundred sixty-seven pheasants (121 cocks and 646 hens) were released on 
the Bellmont Study Area in Wabash County on March 18 and 19, 1964. The released 
pheasants included 500 game-farm California hens, 131 game-farm Korean pheasants 
(50 cocks and 81 hens), 65 game-farm Japanese hens, and 71 wild-lowa cocks from 
southwestern Iowa. All game-farm pheasants had been hatched in 1963 and the Iowa 
cocks had been hatched in 1 963 or earlier. The sex ratio of released pheasants 
was 19:100 for cocks and hens, respectively. 
If we assume that some offspring from all possible crosses of previously 
banded birds are surviving on the area, the strains of pheasants now present on 
the Bellmont Study Area after the March 18-19 release will potentially allow 16 
genetically different crosses to occur. By not releasing both sexes of the same 
strain at the same point, these crosses will be forced insofar as possible. 
4. Response s of Bobwhites and Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipul at ion 
J. A. Ellis, R. J. Ellis, R. L. Westemeier 
Mortality of prairie chickens on the Bogota Study Area appeared to be high 
during 1963- On the basis of data in Table 2, it was calculated that the average 
brood lost 36 percent of its members between the ages of 3*4 and 7*5 weeks. The 
remains of adult prairie chickens were commonly encountered in the fields of the 
| Bogota Study Area. Seven prairie chicken skeletons and one intact dead chicken 
were found during the searches for nests. The skeletons probably represent late- 
winter or early-spring mortality. Two other mortalities were noted in 1963; a hen 
killed by a mower and an adult killed by an automobile. 
