Mrs. Doris Dodds 
Librarian 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
Urbana, Illinois September, 1 97|^|URAL HISTORY SURVEY Vol. 13, No. 9 
OCT G 19/0 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use S. L. Etter, 
HBRflUY R* E. Greenberg 
Use of a 24-acre hayfield in Livingston County by nesting pheasant hens 
has been studied since 1966 . The field was divided into 40 plots, each a 
little more than ^ acre in size, which were separated from each other by mowed 
strips 2 yards wide. Late in March and early in April, 1970, we burned 20 of 
the 40 mowed plots to see how hen pheasants would place their nests in 
relation to the burned plots. We searched the field thoroughly for pheasant 
nests in June and again in July, 1970, and found a total of 42 nests. 
If hens placed their nests without regard to the fire, we would expect 
21 nests in the burned plots and 21 in the unburned plots. We found 15 nests 
in the burned plots and 27 in the unburned plots. Chi-square analysis of 
these data indicated that the relationship between numbers of nests established 
in,burned plots and in unburned plots approached statistical significance 
(X^ = 3*43, df = 1, 0. 10 <£<0.05) • Hens apparently tended to avoid establish¬ 
ing nests in the burned plots. 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat G. B. Joselyn 
In the last Monthly Wildlife Research Letter (13(3):!), it was reported 
that densities of pheasant nests this year ( 1970 ) on seeded roadside plots 
(2.3 nests per acre) represented the highest rate of nest establishment on 
this type of plot since 1966 , when 2.9 nests per acre were established, The 
nest density on managed control roadside plots this year was 1.5 nests per 
acre, up slightly from 1.3 nests per acre in 1939* 
On seeded plots in 1970, successful nest production (0.3 nest per acre) 
was up slightly from production in I 969 (0-7 nest per acre); production on 
managed control plots (0.5 nest per acre) was down somewhat from that in I 969 
(0.6 nest per acre). Production on seeded plots has varied over 8 years 
(1963-1970) from a high of 1.1 successful nests per acre in I 963 to a low of 
0.5 successful nest per acre in 1967* On managed control plots, production 
has ranged between 0.3 nest per acre in 1964 and 0.6 nest per acre in ) 969 • 
Over the 8 years, 114 nests have hatched on seeded plots (0.8 nest per acre), 
compared with 70 nests on managed control plots (0-5 nest per acre). 
3. Ecology and Management of Squirrels C. M. Nixon 
Squirrels are the second most important game animals in Illinois in terms 
of hunter kill, with between 2 and 3 million squirrels shot each year. Yet 
there has not been a long-term squirrel study in Illinois since Brown and 
Yeager's initial studies in the 1940's. 
