Vol. 11, No. 1 
Page 2 
reported that grit consumed by pheasants generally contains mediocre to low concen¬ 
trations of many elements. This conclusion was based on results of chemical analyses 
of grit removed from gizzards of hen pheasants collected in good, fair, and poor 
pheasant range during October 1966 and January 1967- Recent analyses of grit 
removed from samp 1es of soil , also collected in good, fair, and poor pheasant range, 
necessitates modification of this conclusion. Ten ions (calcium, magnesium, 
potassium, chromium, copper, lead, manganese, molybdenum, zinc, and zirconium) were 
usually more than twice as concentrated in grit from soil than in grit from gizzards. 
Only four ions (boron, silver, strontium, and titanium) were less than half as 
abundant in soil grit as in gizzard grit. 
These differences are presumably a manifestation of digestive activity in the 
gizzard, with some ions or groups of ions being removed from the grit at a moro 
rapid rate than others. Investigators in Missouri have demonstrated that calcareous 
grit fed to laying and postbreeding pheasants is reduced by 85“95 percent within 
36 hours following ingestions. On the basis of this finding^ these workers indicated 
that concentrations of calcium fand presumably other elements) in grit from gizzards 
may be poor indices of the calcium [and other mineralsj content of grit injested by 
pheasants. Results of the present study support this inference. 
4. Responses of Bobwhites to Habitat Manipu1 ation J. A. Ellis, K. P. Thomas 
Harvest of quail on the Forbes and Dale areas has ranged from 100 quail (Forbes, 
1965) to 253 (Forbes, 1964) for the period 1963-66. Prehunt populations have 
^ fluctuated from 203 on Dale in 1965 to 514 on Forbes in 1967* Despite these fluctu¬ 
ations in population levels and kills, the percentage of quail harvested each year 
was not significantly different from the mean of 62 percent for the 1963-66 period. 
No significant correlation was found between the percentage harvest of quail for a 
particular year and the prehunt population the following year (jt = 1.15, df = 6, 
ref-05 = 2.45). These data indicate that population fluctuations do not directly 
reflect harvest, although an extremely high percentage of the quail on the two 
areas has been removed annually. Because prehunt population levels in 1967 exceeded 
previous prehunt populations on the two areas, the quail populations thus far appear 
to tolerate the previous amplitude of harvest. 
5. Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipu1 ation R. L. Westemeier 
The soils of the remnant prairie chicken range in Illinois are typically silt 
loams on tight clay subsoils which are slowly permeable and remain cold and wet 
until relatively late in the nesting season. Therefore, local drainage features 
are important factors in the selection of nest sites by prairie chicken hens. 
Eighty-six percent of 21 nests found on the Bogota Study Area in 1966 and 196? were 
within a few yards of dead furrows, waterways, or roadside ditches, which provided 
good drainage for the nest sites. 
Also, at Bogota 82 percent of 68 nests found during 1963“67 were on west- or 
south-facing slopes--both of which tend to be warmer and drier than east- or 
north-facing slopes. However, 57 percent of the 68 nests were on the Yeatter and 
McGraw sanctuaries, which slope west and south, respectively, and have had the 
best available nesting cover during the 5-year period. North and east slopes are 
now available to nesting hens on some of the newer sanctuaries, which should provide 
