Vol, 17, No. 4 
Page 3 
On Forbes, 15 coveys containing 104 quail were located during the prebreeding 
census. The estimated density (4.3 quail per 100 acres) was 2 percent greater 
than the estimate for 1973 , 2 percent lower than the long-term mean for the area 
(4.4 quail per 100 acres), and represented a decline of 80 percent from the pre¬ 
hunt estimate of 1973 * 
Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. 1. Westemeier, 
D. R. Vance 
As in past springs, booming ground surveys were conducted this spring (1974) 
on the Bogota Study Area at no less than weekly intervals from mid-March through 
mid-April. These data were supplemented by observations recorded almost daily 
by visitors in blinds on three major booming grounds. 
The peak count for each booming ground this spring revealed a total of 143 
cocks on the Bogota Area, a decline of 29.6 percent from the peak count of 203 
cocks in the spring of 1973 ; this was the first decline since the population 
began a steady increase from the low point of 37 cocks in the spring of 1968. 
The decline this spring can be directly attributed to the nesting effort of 1973, 
which was essentially a failure in reproduction. Our intensive nest study at 
Bogota in 1973 documented the lowest level of nest,success (31*1 percent) In 
11 years. As described in four preceding reports (_MWRL 16 (7, 9, 10) and 17 (2)j , 
2 years of abnormal weather and its detrimental effects on nest cover, the 
reduced food base of predators, and a high rate of predation on nests were the 
main interrelated factors to which the poor hatch of 1973 was attributable. 
Despite the population decline, improvements in the distribution of the 
flocks at Bogota were noted in two directions this spring. Four cocks boomed 
with up to 10 hens near the 80-acre Jamerson McCormack Sanctuary on the south 
edge of the study area this spring, compared with two cocks in 1973 and one cock 
(the first since acquisition of this 80-acre tract in 1965) in 1972. On the 
east edge of the study area, up to 12 cocks were observed on or near the 110- 
acre Joseph W. Galbreath Sanctuary (acquired and seeded in 1972), although a 
stable booming ground did not become established there this spring. Except 
for two minor booming grounds involving one to three cocks, all booming was 
located on or in close proximity to the other sanctuaries. 
