MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
-UMC^-T 
U, 6 
AM & 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
T. G. Scott, Editor 
Urbana, Illinois 
March, 1963 
VoK 6, No. 3 
1. Pheasa nt Popu1 at ion s and Land Use J. E. Warnock, G. B. Joselyn 
The entire carcasses of the 6 wild hen pheasants captured alive by night light¬ 
ing near Sihley in January, I 963 , and the intestinal tracts of 5 wild cocks shot by 
hunters near Sibley in December, 1962, were examined for parasites by Dr. William 
C. Marquarcit, Department of Veterinary Pathology ar.d Hygiene, University of Illi¬ 
nois. A total of 8 cestodes, 4 coccidial oocysts, and 35 cecal worms were found in 
these 11 pheasants. Four coccidial oocysts were found in one individual, 8 ces¬ 
todes and 1 cecal worm were found in another, 34 cecal worms were distributed among 
7 birds, and no internal parasites were found in 2 birds. No external parasites 
were found on the 6 hens. 
These low levels of infestation suggest that parasitism (and cocoidiosis), at 
present, probably is not exerting a detrimental influence on the pheasant popula¬ 
tion at Sibley. 
2. Man ipuiatIon of P heasant Habitat D. E. Newman 
The current objective of the habitat manipulation project is to investigate the 
feasibility of establishing grass and legume cover on roadsides to enhance and pro¬ 
vide supplemental vegetative cover for nesting pheasants. Some preliminary guide¬ 
lines regarding procedures for manipulation of habitat on roadsides, as derived 
from experimental work on roadsides in Ford County in 1962, are as follows: 
(1) Soil nutrients, with the exception of phosphorus, and soil acidity on road¬ 
sides are within the range of tolerance for grass and legume growth. A deficiency 
of phosphorus is particularly evident in soils of recently reworked roadsides. 
(2) A roadside devoid of vegetation can be planted more economically than a 
roadside with sod because of the reduced cost of seed-bed preparation. 
(3) A i2“foot wide manipulation area on roadsides should be considered minimum 
when extensive seed-bed preparation is necessary. 
(4) Roadsides consisting primarily of flat ditches and/or backslopes are pre¬ 
ferred sites for manipulation. 
(5) Roadsides consisting primarily of foreslope area are not recommended be¬ 
cause : 
(a) Foreslopes are generally too steep for practical operation of equip- 
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