MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois October, 1964 Vol. 7, No. 10 
1. Pheasant Popu1 ations and Land Use S . L . Etter 
Estimates of the comparative numbers of pheasant chicks on the Sibley Study 
Area during the last 3 years indicate there were 30-6 percent fewer chicks in 
1964 than in 1963 and 46.7 percent fewer chicks than in 1 96 2. These estimates 
were based on the numbers of broods observed while driving 640 miles of roadside 
transect (Monthly Wildlife Research Letter, August, 1964) and on the average 
number of chicks per brood in broods judged by the observers to be completely 
counted. The average brood size declined from 5-61 and 5-18 chicks in 1 96 2 and 
1963 to 4.65 chicks in 1964. 
The sharp decline in pheasant production appeared to have been the result of 
a drastic reduction in available nesting cover and an unusually late nesting season. 
Fields of tame hay, the best nesting cover, declined from 14.2 percent and 8.7 
percent of the 100, 10-acre study plots in 1962 and 1 963 to 4.4 percent in 1964. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
Various methods employed to establish grass-legume mixtures on roadsides to 
improve nesting cover for pheasants were discussed in the September 1964 Monthly 
Wildlife Research Letter. It was concluded that seeding methods successful in 
producing adequate stands of grasses and legumes were, nevertheless, impractical 
as a means of establishing extensive numbers of seedings over broad areas because 
the planting procedures required are time consuming and expensive. 
Therefore, the best way to establish seedings with only minimum tillage 
appears to lie in some form of chemical seed bed preparation which employs one of 
several chemical defoliates developed for use in pasture renovation. One such 
chemical, Ortho Diquat, distributed by the Standard Oil Company, was tested on £ 
mile of roadside on the Sibley Study Area in September 1964. This chemical has 
been tested in several western states, and is being used to renovate pastures and 
other areas where terrain or other factors make tillage impossible. In these 
instances, spraying (to kill the existing vegetation) and seeding are usually 
combined in the same operation, the sprayer being attached to a specially designed 
sod seeder. This method has proven to be rapid and less costly than breaking the 
ground prior to seeding. 
UATliRAL 
j mu 
