(/*) . 
MRS. DORIS DODDS 
LIBRARIAN 
MONTHLY WILDLIFE RESEARCH LETTER 
Department of Conservation and Natural History Survey, Cooperating 
NATURAL HISTORY SURVEY 
Glen C. Sanderson and Helen C. Schultz, Editors 
DEC 2 1970 
LIBRARY 
Urbana, Illinois 
November, 1970 
Vol. 13, No. 11 
1. Pheasant Populations and Land Use 
S. L. Etter, 
R. E. Greenberg 
During the summers of 1 969 end 1970, 30 unmarked hen pheasants were 
captured on their nests while they were incubating. Whenever possible, the 
stage of incubation was determined at the time of the initial discovery of a nest 
and netting attempts were delayed until the last half of the incubation period. 
Proximal primary wing feathers removed from the 30 captured hens were subsequently 
measured, and age-classes were assigned on the basis of measurements of the 
proximal primaries of hens captured during the winter of 1970 (MWRL 13(3):!)• 
After capture, the hens were dizzied with their heads tucked under their wings 
and were then placed adjacent to the nest sites. 
Six of the nests incubated by these hens were terminated by predation prior 
to return visits. Of the remaining 24 nests, 9 were incubated by first-year hens 
and 15 were incubated by older hens. The mean incubation stage at the time of 
capture of the hens was 16 days for both age-classes. Six of the 9 nests 
incubated by first-year hens were abandoned after capture of the hens, compared 
with 3 of 15 nests incubated by older hens. Chi-square analysis of these data 
revealed that these differences in rates of abandonment approached statistical 
significance (P<. 10 ) despite the small size of the sample. 
Although it is recognized that the netting of Incubating hens is a highly 
artificial form of disturbance, these data suggest that the broodiness of older 
hens is considerably greater than that of first-year hens. Although larger 
sample sizes are desirable to confirm the above findings, these observations 
suggest significant differences in endocrine function between first-year and 
older hens. This hypothesis is supported by earlier findings—based on observa¬ 
tions of known-age, tagged hens with broods—which suggested that the nesting 
effort of older hens was more prolonged than that of first-year hens (MWRL 12(6): 
1 ). 
2. Manipulation of Pheasant Habitat 
G. B. Joselyn 
For large-scale roadside-seeding programs to be successful, cooperating farm 
operators must refrain from mowing their roadsides until about July 31* 
Widespread mowing much before this date would greatly diminish the value of 
seeded roadsides as nesting cover for pheasants. Whether most farm operators on 
the FCMU would delay the mowing of their roadsides (as agreed) until the date 
specified was a primary aspect of the program on the FCMU. Frequent mowing of 
roadsides by farmers, beginning in June, is typical throughout much of central 
Illinois; in this area, it is uncommon to find a roadside that is unmowed on 
