Vol. 4, No. 3 
Page 4 
pheasants from east-central Illinois were released on the Neoga area in the win¬ 
ter of 1959-1960. The following measurements were recorded from each bird prior 
to their release: body weight, length of the upper mandible, width of the upper 
mandible at the nares, wing length, middle toe length, and length of a central 
tail feather. A t test was employed to determine if significant differences ex¬ 
isted between the mean measurements of morphological characters of juveniles of 
the same sex of both strains. Differences between the means were significant at 
the 0,05 level for all measurements except for bill length. In all cases, ex¬ 
cept for body weight, mean measurements from the "California" pheasants were 
smaller than comparable mean measurements from wild-trapped pheasants. According 
to the Rules of Bergman and Allen, the size difference between the two strains of 
pheasants suggests that the progenitors of the "California" birds could have orig¬ 
inated in a more northern latitude than those of the pheasant that has become 
established in east-central Illinois. This latter statement is contradictory to 
fact and may reflect maturity and nutritional differences between game farm and 
wild reared birds, thereby masking true morphological differences between the 
two strains. 
