Vol. 9, No. 8 
Page 3 
ft 
3* Facto rs Inf1uenc i nq D i st ribut ion and Abundance of Pheasants 
W. L. Anderson 
Statistical analyses of data obtained from pheasants collected during late 
April and hay, 1966, indicate that laying hens in the better pheasant range lose, 
on the average, 5*9 grams with each egg they lay (Table 3)* This rate of weight 
loss was found to be significant at the 95 percent level of confidence. Further 
analyses disclosed that the decrease in body weight was due primarily to shrinkage 
of fat deposits and of muscles, especially sternal muscles (Table 3)- Internal 
organs did not decrease as the egg-laying period progressed. Whether the loss 
of 5*9 grams per egg laid is normal, excessive, or low for pheasants is presently 
unknown. The full meaning of these findings will have to await collection of 
comparable data in other years and under differing environmental conditions. 
Table 3- Changes in weights (in grams) of the carcass, muscles, fat deposits, 
and internal organs of 13 hen pheasants collected in Ford and Livingston counties 
during the egg-laying period of 1966. The 13 hens had laid an average of 12.3-2.2 
(range 3-26) eggs. 
Sample Regression 
Sample Size 
Mean Weight 
Coefficient ' 
t Value 
Ca rcass 
13 
1045-21 
-5.94 
2.21* 
Muscles 
1.02" S 
2.04 
Leg 
10 
194.8^5.4 
-0.76 
Sternal 
10 
242.4-5.0 
-1.25 
Fat Deposits 
1.86* 
2.24* 
Fat Strip 
Viscera] Fat 
13 
13 
2.6-0.5 
14.9-2.6 
-0. 1 1 
-0.66 
Internal Organs 
0 .50 ns 
Heart 
13 
4.1*0.1 
-0.01 
Liver 
13 
22.1^0.5 
0.00 
o.oo ns 
Gizzard 
13 
16.6-0.6 
-0.03 
0.38 ns 
Ovary 
11 
20.6-2.6 
-0.07 
o.oo ns 
1.29 ns 
Oviduct 
13 
18.2-1.1 
0. 18 
* Mean change i n 
t Significant at 
weight per egg 
the 90 percent 
laid. 
level of confidence 
(Ref. t = 1.86 
with 8 df 
and 1.80 with 11 df). 
f Significant at the 95 percent level of confidence (Ref. t = 2.20 with 11 df). 
ns=Not significant. 
4. Responses of Bobwhites to Habitat Manipu1 at ion J. A. Ellis 
It was possible to determine the overwinter survival rates among the cock 
segments of the quail populations on the Dale and Forbes areas from data collected 
during the 1965 harvest and the 1966 spring trapping program. The survival rate 
of juvenile cocks to that of adult cocks was calculated by using the formula 
Nsi = Nsc Nob ; 
Noi Nsb Noc 
