Vol . 7, No. 10 
Page 2 
The vegetation on the zr mile of roadside (0.6 acre) treated on September 17 
consisted primarily of bluegrass, with a few broadleaf weeds scattered throughout. 
Approximately 1.8 pints of the chemical diluted in 100 gallons of water were 
applied. It was estimated that nearly 90 percent of the vegetation on the road¬ 
side was dead by September 21. Because it was not possible to arrange for a sod 
seeder, half of the treated roadside (220 yards) was disked and seeded with a 
brill ion seeder; the plan is to seed the other half with a sod seeder next spring. 
The success of Ortho Diquat in killing the established vegetation on this 
roadside is encouraging. Further testing with other application rates and other 
chemicals is planned. It is believed that if a sod seeder can be obtained or 
developed that can place grass and legume seeds in the soil at a rate and in a 
distribution pattern approximating broadcast seeding, this will constitute a 
relatively fast and economical technique of establishing seedings. 
3. Factors Inf1uencinq Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson 
It has been suggested that the failure of ring-necked pheasants to become 
established south of the 39th parallel in Illinois and other midwestern states 
might be due to the deficiency of a nutritional element in these areas. Therefore, 
to obtain a general indicator of health, body weights were taken from pheasants 
(cocks and hens) captured by night1ighting and cocks shot by hunters on the Neoga 
Study Area. Neoga, located about 30 miles south of the established pheasant range 
in Illinois, is the site at which pheasants have been experimentally released for 
the past several years. From i 960 through 1964, 802 pheasant weights were taken 
from birds reared on the area. 
Analysis of these weight data revealed that pheasants reared at Neoga weighed 
(Table l), on the average, as much as birds within the established pheasant range 
of North America. This was true for pheasants of all sex and age classes and for 
all seasons in which weights were obtained on the Neoga Study Area. The average 
weight of juvenile pheasants reared at Neoga increased rapidly until about 14 
weeks of age, then increased slightly during the fall and winter (Table 1). The 
average weight of adult birds, lightest during late summer, also increased during 
the fall and winter (Table 1). Such patterns in weight changes are similar to 
those reported for pheasants within the range occupied by thriving populations of 
pheasants. These findings indicate that the basic factor or factors, whether 
nutritional or some other, preventing the southward extension of the pheasant range 
in Illinois do not affect rate of growth and maintenance of body weight. 
