Vo 1. 9, No. 8 
Page 5 
a large number of hens were close at hand to nest there once again. However, a 
high density of nests did not materialize. 
The fact that the redtop on the Yeatter and McGraw sanctuaries is badly 
deteriorated seems to have been only partly responsible for their lack of 
attractiveness to nesting prairie chickens in 1966. Patches of relatively good 
stands of grass were available for nesting on the sanctuaries, but four of the 
five nests found were in weedy, relatively open, sterile sites. On private 
farmland, also, all nests reported by farmers or found by project personnel were 
in red clover, fescue, green wheat, weedy soybean stubble, or weeds. All such 
sites were characterized by having short (5-10 inches) open cover at the time 
the hens were selecting nesting sites. 
The nesting ecology of prairie chickens at Bogota in 1966 represents an 
extreme departure from the type of cover shown to be preferred in the past 3 
years--i.e., pure dense stands of grass. Such a departure stresses the importance 
of open-mindedness and long-term research when manipulating habitat for prairie 
chickens. 
Table 4. Summary of data on prairie chicken nests, chick production, and acreage 
of nesting cover on the Yeatter and McGraw sanctuaries at Bogota, 1963-66. 
1963 
Yeatter Sanctuary (77 acres) 
Number of established nests 6 
Number of hatched nests ... 5 
Number of chicks produced" 49 ^ 
Acres of available nesting cover 41.5 
Acres of nesting cover per nest 6.9 
McGraw Sanctuary (20 acres) 
Number of established nests 2 
Number of hatched nests 2 
Number of chicks produced 15 
Acres of available nesting cover 20 
Acres of nesting cover per nest 10 
1964 1965 1966 
15 
4 
4 
9 
2 
4 
83 
14 
35 
77 
77 
67 
5-1 
19.3 
16.8 
0 
tm 
0 
1 
1 
0 
1 
5 
0 
15 
20 
20 
20 
10 
- 
20 
“ Minimum estimate based on egg remains in nests. 
+ Excludes new seedings made in the fall of 1 962 . 
6* Rabbit Management J. A. Bailey, J. C. Hanson 
Results of feeding trials conducted with young cottontails during July and 
August, 1965^ were reported in the Monthly Wildlife Research Letters for August 
and October, 1965* These data permitted comparisons among the midsummer nutri¬ 
tional values of seven plant species to cottontails. The data also suggested 
that the nutritional values of plants varied with season, according to the 
phenologies of the species. To demonstrate these seasonal changes, feeding trials 
have been planned for spring, midsummer, and early autumn, 1966 . Preliminary 
results of the spring trials, conducted during April 21 - May 20, are reported 
here. 
