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natural history survey 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER Cj£p jggg 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating Uflj^uy 
Glen C- Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois 
August, 1969 
Vol. 12, No. 8 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use 
S. L. Etter, 
R. E. Greenberg 
Occasionally, one or more pheasant eggs disappear from pheasant nests, with no 
trace of eggshell fragments or other evidence to indicate the cause of nest destruc¬ 
tion. On rare occasions entire clutches of as many as 9 or 10 eggs have disappeared 
between nest visits. In the past this loss of eggs has been attributed to ground 
squirrel predation or human interference. A recent observation, however, indicates 
that egg losses under these circumstances may result from predation by snakes. 
On July 22, 19&9> while visiting previously found nests in an unmowed hayfield 
to determine their fate, a fox snake ( Elaphe vulpina ) was discovered in a pheasant! 
nest containing a clutch of 4 eggs. At the time of discovery the snake had swallowed 
one egg, which was located approximately 1 inch posterior to the back of the snake’s 
head. After its capture, the snake regurgitated the intact egg. Apparently, the 
snake had only recently eaten the initial egg and perhaps would have remained in the 
nest until the additional 3 eggs could have been consumed. 
While this observation may account for the disappearance of entire eggs from 
pheasant nests, the significance of snake predation as an agent of nest destruction 
is unknown. No hen was present when the nest was initially found, nor did examina¬ 
tion of the eggs reveal any evidence of incubation. Thus, it is impossible to 
determine whether a snake, even of this size (43 inches), could actually force an 
incubating hen to abandon her nest. It may well be that snakes prey only upon 
abandoned nests or upon unattended nests during the laying period. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat 
G. B. Joselyn 
Densities of pheasant nests in 1969 on seeded roadside plots (1.6 nests per acre 
represent the lowest rate of nest establishment on this type of roadside during any 
of the past 7 years. The nest density on managed control roadside plots was 1.4 nest 
per acre this year. Rates of nest establishment on seeded roadsides have varied from 
a low (previous to this year) of 2.0 nests per acre in 1968 to a high of 3*8 nests 
per acre in 1964. On managed control plots, nest densities decreased each year from 
1963 (2.8 nests per acre) to 1968 (1.4 nests per acre). 
Over the 7~year period, 336 nests have been established on seeded plots (2.6 
nests per acre), compared with 232 nests on managed control plots (1.8 nests per 
acre). 
3• Factors Inf1uencinq Distri but ion and Abundance of Pheasants 
W. L. Anderson, 
D. R. Vance 
William Wishart, Alberta Department of Lands and Forests, recently published a 
technique for identifying pheasants as juveniles or adults by measuring the shaft 
diameter and total length of the first primary feather (JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT 
