Vo 1. 7, No. 6 
Page 3 
The numbers of cocks observed on booming grounds at Bogota were high from 
early February through mid-April. Hens were not observed on the grounds before 
March 17 but were frequently seen there from March 17 until mid-April. The peak 
of courtship activity is not readily discernible in Table 2 but probably occurred 
during the first week of April. 
One hundred forty-seven individual quail (132 cocks and 15 hens) were 
captured in cock-and-hen traps in 283 trap-days, May 19-June 19, on the Forbes, 
Dale, and Alma study areas (Table 3)* In addition, 57 individual quail (all 
cocks) were recaptured 84 times. Captive, pen-reared hen quail were used to 
decoy the wild birds into the traps. All captured birds were marked with 
backtags and leg bands, weighed, and released at the trap sites. 
Approximately 10 percent of the quail captured on each area were hens. 
Although the gregarious nature of quail probably accounted for some of the hens 
being attracted to the bait hens, the fact that each of the 15 hens was trapped 
simultaneously with 1 or more cocks suggests that the cock-hen pair-bond was 
responsible for the hens' vulnerability to trapping. 
Table 2. 
spring, 
Numbers of prairie 
1964. 
chickens on booming grounds, Bogota Study Area, 
Date 
Ma 1 es 
Females Sex Unknown Both Sexes 
Feb. 
5 
44 
0 
0 
44 
Feb. 
12 
50 
0 
0 
50 
Feb. 
21 
55 
0 
0 
55 
Feb. 
27 
62 
0 
0 
62 
Mar. 
5 
43 
0 
0 
43 
Mar. 
11 
50 
0 
0 
50 
Mar. 
18 
52 
0 
9 
61 
Mar. 
22 
60 
10 
19 
89 
Mar. 
29 
51 
7 
0 
58 
Mar . 
31 
53 
5 
0 
58 
Apr . 
8 
55 
9 
0 
64 
Apr. 
9 
65 
5 
0 
70* 
Apr. 
11 
58 
15 
0 
73* 
Apr. 
13 
52 
5 
0 
57* 
Apr. 
21 
41 
0 
0 
41 
May 
1 
36 
1 
0 
37* 
May 
8 
36 
1 
0 
37 
May 
16 
35 
0 
0 
35 
May 
22 
28 
0 
0 
28 
May 
29 
24 
0 
0 
24* 
* Minimum count; vegetation too tall for accurate count. 
