MONTHLY l/ILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois April, 1972 Vol. 15, No. 4 
Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
For the 9-year period of 1963-71, 447 pheasant nests were located on seeded 
roadside plots and 302 nests on managed control plots. The rates of nest 
success on the two types of roadsides were virtually the same for the period. 
On seeded plots, 125 (28 percent) of the established nests hatched; on managed 
control plots, 82 (27 percent) of the nests hatched. 
Success rates among years have varied considerably on both types of 
roadsides. On seeded plots, the range was from 19 percent (1971) to 42 percent 
( 1968 ); on managed control plots, the range was from 13 percent (1964) to 42 
percent ( 1969 )* 
Ecology and Management of Squirrels C. M. Nixon, 
R. E. Greenberg 
One of the most important aspects of squirrel management is the timing of 
the hunting season in relation to the reproductive cycle. The squirrel hunting 
season in southern Illinois traditionally opens on August 1, when many adult 
females are pregnant or are nursing young. These females in the hunter's bag 
represent the loss of unborn young and of baby squirrels that die of starvation. 
Data derived from 2,726 squirrels bagged in the Southern Zone during the 
squirrel hunting season of 1971 indicate that about 17 percent of the adult 
females shot were pregnant or nursing. The proportion of adult females that 
were pregnant or nursing was high during August and peaked at approximately 27 
percent during August 16-31. Reproductive activity declined sharply after 
August 31* Less than 13 percent of the adult females shot during September 1-15 
were pregnant or lactating, and the proportion was below 15 percent for the 
remainder of the hunting season. There were no pregnant or lactating females in 
our sample of 112 squirrels bagged November 1-15* 
Responses of Bobwhites to Habitat Manipulation J. A. Ellis 
Some investigators of quail ecology reported that whistling cocks in 
summer represented surplus (nonmated) males. Audio-census data from the Forbes 
and Dale areas, and from workers in Alabama and Wisconsin, suggested that both 
mated and unmated cocks whistle during June and early July. Our observations of 
