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INVESTIGATIONS OF RING-NECKED PHEASANTS IN ILLINOIS, William B. Rob- 
ertson, Jr. “Technical Bulletin No. 1” of the Illinois Department of Con- 
servation, Division of Game Management, Springfield, Illinois. 1958, 138 
pages, 61 tables, 29 drawings, maps and photographs. 6%4 x 10 inches, paper- 
bound. Single copies free upon request to Director Glen D. Palmer, De- 
partment of Conservation, Springfield, Ill. 
This is the first of a series of technical bulletins proposed by the Illinois 
Department of Conservation. It is the result of the cooperative wildlife 
research program of the Conservation Department and the Illinois Natural 
History Survey. The book is an authoritative, comprehensive, and fact- 
filled treatise on the status of the pheasant as an established game bird in 
Illinois. The text was prepared by Mr. Robertson largely on the basis of 
surveys, field studies, and reports by Messrs. Leonard E. Foote, Paul J. 
Moore, and Ralph E, Yeatter over a period of more than six years. 
The book includes a complete historical record of the introduction of the 
pheasant in Illinois, beginning with the first releases in 1900. We discover 
that pheasants have been hunted in this state each fall uninterruptedly 
since 1915. The abundance of the species over the northern third of the 
state may be explained partly by the fact that, from 1928 to 1958, no less 
than 1,425,000 chicks (or eggs) have been released by the state, by hunt- 
ing clubs, and by farmers! 
This volume covers such points as differences in winter behavior by 
geographical areas, formation of flocks, sex segregation, observations of 
breeding behavior, effects of mowing hay on nesting losses, and the effects 
of weather on hatching dates. Both nutritional and temperature hypotheses 
are advanced to explain the present limitations of the pheasant range. 
Bird-hunters and bird-students alike will find worth-while reading in this 
book. The information it contains will no doubt serve as a guide for up- 
land game bird management practices in this and other states for many 
years to come. All of the state departments and agencies responsible for 
creation of this ‘Technical Bulletin” have performed an outstanding serv- 
ice, and we hope that their collaboration will produce many more studies 
of this type in the future. 
Paul H. Lobik, 22W681 Tamarack Drive, Glen Ellyn 
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A GUIDE TO AGING OF PHEASANT EMBRYOS, Ronald F. Labisky and James F. 
Opsahl. Photographs by William E. Clark, Illinois Natural History Survey 
Photographer. “Biological Notes No. 39” of the Natural History Survey 
Division, Urbana, Illinois, 1958. 4 pages, 21 photographs, paper. Single 
copies free on request to the Natural History Survey Division. 
This interesting little leaflet is notable for its series of 20 pictures, taken 
