Vo I. 9, No. 2 
Page 4 
fencerows and roadsides, have been detrimental to maintenance of birds on 
Quail are now limited to small areas primarily along tree - brush drainage 
which are not frequently disturbed by farm activities. 
the area, 
sys terns , 
Estimates of quail populations on Alma from March 1964 to January 1 966 are 
shown in Table 3- The population has declined to a level where the information 
obtamed does not warrant the effort involved. For this reason, and because of 
expanded management-research programs on the Dale and Forbes study areas, qua i 1 - 
project studies on the A1ma Area will be discontinued. 
Table 3- Estimates of quail 
Area. 
populations, based on 
censuses conducted on the Alma 
Date of Census 
Number of Quail 
Qua i 1 per 100 Acres 
1964 
March 
100 
1 -7 
November 
220 
3-7 
1965 
January 
57 
1 .0 
March 
88 
1 -5 
November 
125 
2.1 
1966 
January 
23 
0.4 
5. Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier 
Redtop (Aqrostis alba ; grass seed has been produced in southern Illinois since 
about 1875- By 1934, 85 percent of the world production and 95 percent of the U. 
S. production of redtop seed was in southern Illinois. Redtop has proven to be an 
important type of nesting cover for prairie chickens in Illinois because harvesting 
of the hay or seed crop occurs in July, after the critical nesting and brood-rearinq 
period. 3 
Since World War II, major changes have occurred in the land use of southern 
Illinois, resulting from modern mechanization and application of lime, commercial 
fertilizer, and pesticides. The decline in prairie chicken numbers has coincided 
with these changes in land use. Of the total land area in the south-central counties 
which still support remnant colonies of prairie chickens, 50 - 80 percent is 
currently occupied by corn and soybean acreage. Undisturbed grass fields for nestinq 
are rare. 
