Vol. 7, No. 7 
Page 2 
3. Factors Influencing Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants 
W. L. Anderson, S. L. Wunderle 
During June 1964, attempts were made to locate pheasant nests on the 
Neoga and Bellmont areas by interviewing farmers and searching hayfields after 
the hay had been mowed, raked, and removed from the fields. At Bellmont, 13 
nests were found of which 5 had been incubated and 6 had not been incubated; 
the stage of development of the other 2 nests was undetermined. The five 
incubated nests contained an average of 10.8 + 2.3 eggs. Four of the incubated 
nests had hatched, each producing an average of 9.0 + 2.0 chicks. At Neoga, no 
nests were found by searching 104 acres of hay. 
4. Responses of Bobwhites to Habitat Manipulation 
J. A. Ellis, R. L. Westemeier 
Counts of calling quail were made on the Dale and Alma areas from the 
first of May until mid-July by driving standardized routes, stopping at pre¬ 
determined sites, and counting the individual cock and hen quail that called 
and the "bobwhite" calls during a 2-minute period. Road construction prevented 
comparable counts on the Forbes area. 
Whistling activity among cock quail on the Alma and Dale areas increased 
greatly about May 15. After May 15, whistling activity continued on both areas 
at an accelerated rate, with but minor weekly variations, until the end of June. 
The average number of cock quail heard to call at each of 12 stops on the Dale 
area ranged from 4.9 to 6.6 during the period of accelerated whistling activity. 
On the Alma area, the average number of cocks heard per stop at each of 10 
stops ranged from 2.5 to 4.2. 
During this period of increased vocal activity, cocks on the two areas 
were more vulnerable to capture in the cock-and-hen traps. It is suspected 
that most of the hens were incubating during this period. 
5. Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. J. Ellis 
It has been reasonably well established that the most critical need of 
the waning populations of prairie chickens in Illinois is suitable nesting 
cover (Yeatter 1963:745, 749). In order to better understand the relation¬ 
ships between the acreage of nesting cover and prairie chicken numbers, cover 
on the areas chosen for annual counts of cocks on booming grounds was mapped 
during April and early May 1964. The mapping provided information on land- 
use during the nesting period for prairie chickens in 1963. 
Idle fields of grass and grass meadows were the only cover types found 
which, according to the nest study of 1963 (Monthly Wildlife Research Letter, 
October, 1963) and Yeatter (1963:750-751), are considered to be productive 
nesting cover. These cover types are the only ones not usually disturbed 
during the main part of the nesting season. 
