Vol. 12, No. 7 
Page 3 
Buckwheat was included in the food patches established on this zone. Korean 
lespedeza, tick-clover, wild bean, common ragweed, and o^k ( Quercus spp.) 
w6re the five most frequently occurring seeds in the crops from Zone III. 
This zone was also managed by the food-patch system but less intensively 
than Zone I I. 
Although the bobwhite feeds on a wide variety of plant seeds, the bulk 
of its diet is supplied by seeds of plants associated with the early stages 
of secondary succession and by seeds of agricultural crops. Availability is 
probably the important factor in determining the food items selected. 
Management should create and maintain early stages of secondary succession 
primarily to provide sources of food. 
5- Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation R. L. Westemeier 
Estimates of the number of hens in a population of prairie chickens are 
not easily attained because, unlike the cocks, hens are not regularly present 
on booming grounds in spring. However, observations of hens made during 
weekly (often at more frequent intervals) booming ground surveys at Bogota do 
provide some basis for estimating sex ratios and making comparisons for the 
years 1963 - 69 . The count of 47 individual hens, observed on and off 
booming grounds during one morning in 1969, was 114 percent higher than the 
previous high count of 22 hens, made in the spring of 1966. The high count of 
cocks in 1969 was 51- Thus, these observations suggest the existence of a 
nearly balanced sex ratio among prairie chickens at Bogota at the onset of 
the breeding season in I 969 . 
6. Rabbit Management K. P. Thomas 
A study of the vegetation on three plots was initiated in 1969 on the 
sharecrop-burn zone of the Forbes Area to determine the effects of the 
prescribed burning program on intermediate stages of succession. Each 
plot was characterized by goldenrod ( Solidago spp.) and the invasion of 
persimmon ( Diospyros virqiniana ) and sassafras ( Sassafras albidum) . One of 
the plots had not been burned since 1963, the second was burned initially in 
1969, and the third area was burned in 1967 and 19^9• In the 20 quadrats 
taken on each plot, 24 plant species were found on the unburned plot and 24 
were noted on the area that had received two burns. Twenty-nine species of 
plants were recorded in the remaining plot. Eight species, common to the 
three plots, represented approximately 50 percent of the vegetative cover 
on each plot. Twenty-four species were common to at least two areas. 
Despite the similarity in the total vegetative aspect and in the number 
and kinds of species on the areas, a basic difference was noted in the 
dispersion of plants on the burned plots and the unburned plot. An average of 
four species per quadrat were found on the unburned plot, whereas an average 
of six species per quadrat were recorded on the burned plots. The integration 
of species becomes more apparent when the numbers of species in the first 
10 quadrats taken on each plot are compared. Twenty-two species were 
represented on the first 10 quadrats taken on the area burned twice and 25 
species on the first 10 quadrats taken on the area burned only in 1969 ; only 
10 species had appeared by the 10th quadrat on the unburned area. The greater 
integration of vegetation afforded by the burned plots may be effective in 
regulating the spacing pattern of animals that are dependent on the plant 
community. 
