Vol. 5, No. 12 
Page 2 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat D. E» Newman 
The average number of eggs per hatched pheasant nest on roadsides in the Sibley 
area in 1962 was larger in control plots than in test plots (Table 2) • The differ¬ 
ence in the incubated clutch size of hatched nests can be partially attributed to 
the phenomenon of decreasing clutch size with seasonal progression. The midpoint 
of nest hatching in control plots was July 4, whereas the mean hatching date of 
nests in test plots was July 17. A difference in vegetative conditions on control 
and test plots was probably the greatest factor influencing the timing of nest 
establishment and thus hatching. (See Monthly Wildlife Research Letter, October, 
1962.) 
Table 2. The average number of eggs and the average number of eggs hatched 
per successful nest on roadsides at Sibley, 1962. 
Number 
of Nests 
Average Number 
of Eggs 
Average Number 
Hatched 
Control Plots 
7 
11.5 + 1.66* 
8.7 + 1.77* 
Test Plots 
7 
8.5 + 0.81 
7.9 + 0.86 
All Areas 
14 
10.0 + 0.98 
8.3 + 0.95 
* + Standard Error 
3. Factors Influencing Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants 
William L. Anderson 
Analysis of data obtained from hunter interviews revealed that a minimum of 
106 cock pheasants were bagged on the Neoga area during the 1962 hunting seasons 
this constitutes a kill of about 4 cocks per section for the 25 square mile area. 
An additional 14 cocks (11.7 percent of the total number downed) were crippled but 
not retrieved. Three hundred and fifty-three hunters in 150 parties expended 837 
gun-hours to bag 87 cocks, an average of 9.6 gun-hours per cock. This hunting 
success, though considerably lower than that common in the occupied pheasant range 
of Illinois, did not cause local sportsmen to lose interest. 
The age ratio among 81 of the cocks bagged on the area was 5.2 juveniles per 
adult. This age ratio, when combined with the prehunt sex ratio obtained by 
nightlighting, indicated that 5.0 young of both sexes were produced per adult hen 
and survived to the hunting season. These data suggest that excellent productivity 
occurred on the Neoga area in 1962. 
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