MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois May, 1 966 Vol . 9, No. 5 
!• Pheasant Populations and Land Use W. J. Francis, S. L. Etter 
Roadside observations of the behavior of pheasants on the Sibley Study Area 
indicate that a high lev>l of breeding has been maintained during the 4 weeks from 
April 23 to May 20, I 966 . During the entire period the percent of all groups of 
pheasants observed that were bisexual groups (harems) has remained at about 40 per¬ 
cent. The absence of any cne week which couid be called the peak of breeding 
represents a departure from the behavior patterns of the preceding 4 years. In 
each of the years from 1962 to 1965 a single week in which nearly 50 percent of 
all groups were harems was well defined. 
To what extent the abnormally low temperatures during the week of May 7 _ I3 
may have affected the reproductive cycle is unknown. It appears, however, that 
the aberrant breeding behavior in I 966 could be the result of the higher sex ratio 
(approximately 40 cocks per 100 hens compared with 15-22 cocks per 100 hens in 
1962-65). It is possible that the greater proportion of cocks in the population 
and a consequently higher degree of association of hens with these cocks could 
have masked the fluctuations in grouping behavior which were apparent in the 
preceding years. 
2. Manipu1 at ion of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
It is important that vegetative characteristics on seeded roadsides be measured 
from year to year to determine (I) factors which make certain roadsides more attrac¬ 
tive than others to nesting pheasants, and (2) relationships between nest density 
and changes in vegetative composition. One of the most important factors in 
determining the practicality of managing roadsides for pheasant nesting cover is 
determining when the seedings become attractive to pheasants and how long this 
attraction is maintained. 
Vegetative analysis of seeded roadsides was uncertaken in 1 96 3, 1964, and 
1965, when the seedings were 1, 2, and 3 years of age. Vegetation was sampled with 
a 1/12-square-meter quadrat at four randomly selected locations on each £-mile 
seeded plot and at two randomly selected locations on each I/8-mile plot. Percent 
of total top cover contributed by each species present was estimated and frequency 
of occurrence of the various seeded and nonseeded plant species was obtained with¬ 
in each quadrat. 
With the exception of brome ( Bromus spp.), occurrence of all species decreased 
during the second and third years after seeding (Table I). By the third year brome 
had increased to more than double its frequency of the first year. Alfalfa 
( Medicago sativa ) decreased more between the first and second years than between 
the second and third. Three years after the seedings were established all species 
seeded, except brome and alfalfa, had been reduced to almost insignificant levels 
