Vol. 24, Wo. 6 
Page 3 
time was doubled from the standard 2 
placed on triangulating each crowing 
minutes to 4 minutes. Special emphasis was 
cock pheasant, especially on the sanctuaries. 
We estimated 48 crowing pheasant cocks on the Bogota Study Area this spring-- 
an all-time record, as predicted (MWRL 24(5) |3). estimates of pheasant 
numbers at Bogota were undoubtedly conservative because the estimates re le 
on methods suited for locating booming prairie chickens. However, we believe 
that pheasant numbers in past springs did not approach the level present this 
spring. Prior to 1969 it was rare to see or hear a pheasant at Bogota. Since 
1969, pheasants have increased steadily to a conservative estimate of 22 to 2b 
cocks in the springs of 1977, 78, 79, and 80; the actual number may have been 
30 to 35 cocks. 
Winter observations of the sex ratio of pheasants at Bogota revealed at 
least 2 hens per cock, therefore indicating a total population of about 150 
pheasants. The prairie chicken population at Bogota included 70 cocks this 
spring. The sex ratio on prairie chickens is not well known, but cocks are 
believed to outnumber hens throughout the range of the species. We be1ieve the 
38 hens seen on the leks at Bogota this spring were close to the actual number 
in the population. Thus, pheasants now probably outnumber prairie chickens on 
the Bogota Study Area. This shift in species abundance portends dire consequences 
for the prairie chickens at Bogota. 
Ecology and Management of White-tailed Deer - W- 87 -R 
C.M. Nixon, L.P. Hansen, 
J.E. Chelsvig, P.A. Brewer 
about 80% of the 
Knowing what a deer eats is knowing what a deer is doing . 
time. To learn how changing agricultural practices, as well as other environmental 
changes, affect the diet of white-tailed deer in Illinois, we have begun a study 
of deer food habits. 
Thus far, 52 rumens from hunter- and road-killed deer have been collected 
from east-central and western Illinois and the contents examined. Analytical 
procedures were similar to those used by Korschgen and others (segregation, 
identification, and volumetric measurement of food items). 
Although samples collected represent all seasons, our primary interest is 
the diet in winter when deer become hard pressed to find high energy foods. 
Twenty rumens were collected during November, December, and February (no samples 
were available for January). Five food types comprised of tbe total 
identified volume for the 3-month period: corn (Ze£ mays), 43-1%, wild crab 
(Pyrus ioensis), 27.2%; multiflora rose (Rosa mul t i f l_ora), 5-U^moneywort ^ ^ 
( UTiT^acTfrFhlmmu 1 aria) , 4.OS; and red oak acorns (Querojs rubra) , 2.8*. Major 
items in frequency of occurrence were corn, 75%; multi flora rose, 7;%, Y 
(Symphoricarpos orbiculata), 65%; honey locust ( Diedits . i _ a trtacant hos), 55%, o 
n one ro d "gr as s e s ( Graminae spp.), 35%; and winter wheat Tfri tjcum aesti _ v um), 35%. 
Some unusual items encountered were alfalfa weevil larvae, a carabid 
beetle, and the abdomen of a wasp. These were most likely ingested while the 
deer foraged on plants. 
