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MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Thomas G. Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
June, 1962 
Vol. 5, No. 6 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use J. E. Warnock 
The distribution in relation to field edge of 162 pheasant nests found in 88 
acres of tame hay during June, 1962, on the Sibley Study Area shows that the por¬ 
tion of the fields located 30-60 yards from the field edge had the highest den¬ 
sity of nests (Table 1). A distance of 0-90 yards from the field edge made up 
75*8 per cent of the area searched and contained 87*7 per cent of the nests. A 
distance of 90-220 yards from the field edge constituted 24.1 per cent of the 
area searched but contained only 12.2 per cent of the nests. 
The relationship of pheasant nesting to field edge in hayfields of different 
sizes and shapes will be investigated further to determine the absence of pres¬ 
ence of an "edge effect." Thus, potential management techniques can be evaluated. 
Table 1. —Location of pheasant nests in relation to field edge in hayfields, 
Sibley Study Area, 1962. 
Distance from 
Field Edge 
(in yards) 
Number of 
Square Yards 
Searched 
Per Cent of 
Area Searched 
Number of 
Nests Found 
Per Cent of 
Nests Found 
0-30 
154,450 
35.4 
59 
36.4 
31-60 
99,700 
22.9 
57 
35-2 
61-90 
76,050 
17.4 
26 
16. 1 
91-120 
52,200 
12.0 
11 
6.8 
121-150 
31,875 
7.3 
3 
1.9 
151-180 
15,750 
3.6 
4 
2.5 
181-220 
6,000 
1.4 
1 
0.6 
Total 
436,025 
100.0 
162 
99.5 
2. Manipulat ion of Pheasant Habitat D. E. Newman 
The vegetation in 88 randomly selected 1/4-meter quadrat samples in the mani¬ 
pulated roadside plots was measured during June to evaluate objectively the suc¬ 
cess of the seeding and the presence and relative importance of other plant 
species. Tame grasses were present in 99 per cent of the quadrats. Oats, alfal¬ 
fa, and clover had frequencies of 98 per cent. Bindweed and ragweed ranked high¬ 
est among the annual weeds in occurrence, each having frequencies of 32 per cent. 
Pigweed, smartweed, Iambsquarters, and butterprint had frequencies of 24, 23, 20, 
and 16 per cent, respectively. Although over 20 species of annual weeds were pre¬ 
sent in the test plots, these plants were primarily dominated by the cover crop of 
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