Vol. 12, No. 7 
Page 2 
of the overall success cannot be made until next summer. However, the 
relatively high proportion of roadsides with what are judged to be adequate 
stands of alfalfa provide hope that the overall success of the seedings 
will be greater than was at first anticipated. 
3* Factors Inf1uencinq Pistribution and Abundance of Pheasants W. L. Anderson, 
0. R. Vance 
Grit from Sibley (good pheasant range) and Neoga (poor pheasant range) 
was fed to juvenile hen pheasants to determine what effects, if any, the 
two types of grit might have on pheasants (MV/RL 12(4): 2) . Excessive 
mortality of the birds did not allow the original objective to be fully met. 
However, samples of the grit fed to the pheasants and grit from the gizzards 
of birds surviving to the conclusion of the study were analyzed spectrograph- 
ically for 28 chemical elements and for biologically available Ca, K, Mg, 
Na, and P (MWRL 12(3):2). This analysis provided some indication of the 
changes in mineral composition of grit after it was consumed by pheasants. 
Of the 28 elements, 10 (Ca, Mg, B, Ba, Fe, Ga, Mn, Sr, Ti, Y) in Sibley 
grit were less than half as concentrated in grit from gizzards of the birds 
as in the original sample; 16 elements (Ca, Mg, Na, Al, B, Ba, Co, Fe, Mn, 
Pb, Sr, Ti, V, Y, Yb, Zr) in Neoga grit were less than half as concentrated 
in grit from gizzards as in the grit fed to the pheasants. The analysis 
for biologically available major elements showed similar results. Biologically 
available Ca and Mg were lower in concentration in gizzard grit than in the 
original grit sample for Sibley, but the concentration of Na was about 5 
times higher in gizzard grit. Neoga grit showed consistently lower 
concentrations for all five major elements in gizzard grit than in the 
original sample. These findings indicate that elements are selectively 
removed from grit in the gizzards of pheasants; such selection presumably 
aids in maintaining the physiological mineral balance in the birds. 
4. Responses of Bobwhites to Habitat Manipulation J. A. Ellis, 
P. J. Matthews 
Crops from quail harvested on the Forbes Area in 1967 were separated 
according to the management zone in which they were shot. Food items in 
the crops were identified and listed by frequency of occurrence. The five 
most frequently occurring foods are presented for each of the three manage¬ 
ment zones; one or more of the five foods were found in approximately 95 
percent of the crops from the zone for which they are listed. 
The five most frequently found seeds in crops from birds harvested on 
Zone I were soybean ( G1ycine max ), common ragweed ( Ambrosia artemisi? folia ), 
Korean lespedeza ( Lespedeza stipulacea) , corn ( Zea mays ) , and foxtail ( Setaria 
spp.). This zone was managed by sharecropping and limited burning. Soybeans 
occupied 35 percent of the land area in Zone I in 1967* in crops from Zone 
II, which was managed by the food-patch system, the five most frequently 
occurring foods were Korean lespedeza, wild bean ( Strophostyles spp.), common 
ragweed, tick-clover ( Desmodiurn spp .), and buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum ). 
