I 
Vol. 7, No. 10 
Page 5 
Forbes Area 
Common ragweed 
(Ambrosia artemisiifolia) 
44 
28 
l -2 
Acorn fragments 
(Quercus spp.) 
44 
28 
1 -2 
Korean lespedeza 
(Lespedeza stipulaceae) 
38 
24 
3 
Soybeans 
(Glycine max) 
24 
15 
4 
Jewel weed 
(Impatiens pallida) 
23 
15 
5 
Wheat 
(Triticum aestivum) 
14 
9 
6 
Leafy materia 1 
14 
9 
7 
Milo 
(Sorghum vulqare) 
13 
8 
8 
Corn 
(Zea mays) 
1 l 
7 
9-10 
Fa 11 panicum 
(Panicum dichotomif1orum) 
11 
7 
9-10 
5• Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipu1 at ion R. J. Ellis 
It is generally agreed that loss of nesting cover is the factor most 
responsible for reduced prairie chicken numbers in the United States (Hamerstrom 
et al. 1957:87)- There is less agreement on the characteristics of optimum nest¬ 
ing cover for prairie chickens. Information obtained during a study of 15 nests 
discovered at Bogota in 1963 and 21 nests discovered on the same area in 1964 
permits a better understanding of these characteristics. 
Thirty-four (94.4 percent) of the 36 nests were made of dead grass. One nest 
(2.8 percent) was made of dead red clover and another of dead weed stems. Grasses 
were the dominant plants at the sites of 17 (47-2 percent) of the nests. Twelve 
(33-3 percent) of the nest sites were dominated by grass-legume mixtures. Other 
nests were found in legumes, grass-weed mixtures, legume-weed mixtures, and weeds. 
Twenty-one (58.3 percent) of the nests were in vegetation 11 to 20 inches 
tall. Eight (22.2 percent) were in shorter cover and seven (19-4 percent) in 
ta11er cover. 
Twenty-three (54.8 percent) of 42 nests (the 36 discussed above plus 6 
reported by farmers) known from the Bogota Study Area were located on the highest 
one-third of the area. The lowest one-third had five (11.9 percent) of the nests; 
the middle one-third had 14 (33-3 percent). 
