Vo I . 9 . No . 5 
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of occurrence. It is re ,onab’ to expect that brome will continue to increase 
while other species con f nue tv- -ecrease. 
Should pheasants prefer U ^sta.1ish nests only in a mixture of grasses and 
legumes (as originally seeded), the increasing preponderance of brome on the road¬ 
sides could make these areas less attractive to nesting pheasants. From a manage¬ 
ment standpoint, it will be important to know at what stage in the vegetative 
succession of a seeded roadside it begins to lose its attractiveness as pheasant 
nesting cover. However, should it be shown that pheasants are as attracted to 
seedings consisting of brome only, or a brome-a1 fa 1 fa mixture, as they are to the 
multispecies mixture, then the cost and effort of establishing seedings would be 
significantly reduced. It is hoped that the analysis of plant species preference 
in selection of pheasant nest sites will shed some light on this question. 
Table 1. Changes of vegetation, with age, on seeded roadsides, Sibley Study Area. 
Figures represent the percent of total quadrats taken in which the species occurred. 
Species 
First Year 
Second Year 
Third Year 
Alfal fa 
78 
69 
66 
Red Clover 
69 
9 
3 
Brome 
40 
71 
86 
Orchard Grass 
46 
20 
12 
Timothy 
15 
9 
7 
Other* 
36 
35 
22 
* Includes all grasses and broad-leaved plants not seeded. 
3- Factors Inf1uencing Distribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson 
Ouring May 1 966 , a total of 39 cock pheasants were located on the Neoga 
release area by observation and audio-triangulation. In previous years, i 960 
through 1965. the number of cocks located at Neoga was 79. 88, 121, 3k, 16, and 
28, respectively. The indicated increase in the population of cocks from May 1965 
to the same month in 1 966 probably is not as great as the data imply. Nine of the 
39 cocks found in 1966 were located to the west and to the south of the area censused 
in 1965- Nevertheless, it is apparent that the population did at least maintain 
itself, and might have increased slightly, from May 1965 to May I 966 . These 
findings offer continued encouragement that a low-density population of pheasants 
is becoming established in the vicinity oF Neoga. 
4. Responses of B obwh i tes_ to H ab i tat Manipulation J. A . Ellis 
For the past 3 years (1964-66), censuses using bird dogs to locate quail have 
been made on the Forbes and Dale areas to obtain estimates of the populations in 
late December (posthunt) and early March (prebreeding). Results of these censuses 
are shown in Table 2. 
The posthunt and the prebreeding estimates of quail populations on Forbes have 
