formed because we believed it to better represent the 
minerals to which the pheasant is exposed. Also, a 
relatively large proportion of the elements in these 
fine-textured soils occurs in forms available to plants. 
The corn and foxtail seeds were oven-dried at 60° 
C, The corn was finely ground in a Wily mill; the fox- 
tail seeds were left intact (with floret structures at- 
tached). Except for calcium in corn, the elemental 
concentrations in seeds were determined by direct- 
reading emission spectrography. A rotating-disc solu- 
tion technique, with a-c spark excitation, was used in 
the analyses; lithium was the internal standard. The 
samples were prepared for analysis by ashing 1.5 g of 
material at 500° C. for 24 hours. The ash was taken 
up in a solution of 4.5 percent HCl, 1.5 percent HNO, 
(by volume), and 1 percent lithium (as LiCl). The 
concentration of each element was estimated from 
calibration curves derived by our analyses of reference 
plant samples assembled by Kenworthy et al. (1956). 
The calcium content of corn was determined by X-ray 
fluorescence; the finely ground corn was compressed 
into disc-shaped pellets for this analysis. The concen- 
trations of calcium in the corn samples were estimated 
from calibration curves that we derived from analyses 
of similarly prepared corn samples to which known 
quantities of calcium had been added. 
The feather samples were prepared by clipping the 
primaries, at the junction of calamus and skin, from 
the right wing of each pheasant. The clipped feathers 
were then cut into 4-cm segments. Each sample was 
then placed in a conical flask, washed several hours in 
distilled water on a reciprocating shaker (with fre- 
quent changes of water), and oven-dried at 60° C. 
The dried samples, which individually weighed 
1.5-2.0 g, were ashed at 500° C. for 36-48 hours. The 
ash was taken up in hot 6N HCl and then filtered. The 
filtrate was analyzed for sodium and potassium by 
flame photometry; the concentrations of these min- 
erals were estimated from analyses of standards that 
we prepared from reagent-grade chemicals to approxi- 
mate the matrix of the feathers. Atomic absorption an- 
alysis was used to determine the amounts of calcium 
and magnesium in the filtrate; lanthanum chloride was 
used as the suppressant. 
The rationale for using feathers to study the min- 
eral complex in birds was derived from early work on 
ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) in New Hampshire 
by McCullough and Grant (unpublished') and from 
the later studies on blue and lesser snow geese ( Anser 
caerulescens caerulescens) by Hanson and Jones 
(1968). In view of the findings of these studies, we 
considered the concentrations of elements in pheasant 
feathers to reflect the mineral status of the metabolic 
pool and interelemental relationships during feather 
growth. 
*Studies by Robert A. McCullough and C, L. Grant in 1952 and 
1953, involving laboratory analyses of fish and game and their foods, 
under the auspices of New Hampshire Pittman-Robertson and Dingel- 
Johnson projects. 
FINDINGS 
In soils, mean concentrations of potassium, calcium, 
and magnesium were less, and those of sodium greater, 
at Neoga than at Sibley. The differences, Neoga 
versus Sibley, for all four elements were statistically 
significant (Table 1). These findings illustrate, in a 
general way, the degree of weathering of the soils 
on the two areas. Potassium and calcium are among 
the first elements to respond to weathering processes 
under Illinois conditions (Jones & Beavers 1966:622). 
The relatively low concentrations of these alkali and 
alkaline earth elements in soils at Neoga reflect, in par- 
ticular, the weathering of calcium-bearing feldspars, 
magnesium- and potassium-bearing micas, and ferro- 
magnesian minerals. Sodium, which occurs in the 
sodium-rich feldspar albite that is resistant to weath- 
ering, and in rather high levels as an exchangeable 
cation in planosols, has become relatively concen- 
trated at Neoga. 
In corn samples, sodium, potassium, and magne- 
sium, as well as total ash, were more abundant in sam- 
ples from Neoga than in those from Sibley (Table 1). 
However, except for the difference in magnesium, 
none of these differences was statistically significant. 
The mean concentrations of calcium in corn were low, 
being only 38 and 31 ppm in the samples from Sibley 
and Neoga, respectively. Foxtail seeds contained 
25-30 times more calcium than corn did on both areas. 
In foxtail, potassium and total ash exhibited higher 
mean concentrations among samples from Neoga than 
among those from Sibley; the difference for potas- 
sium was significant. The high ash content of foxtail, 
in contrast to that of corn, was due in part to the fact 
that the entire foxtail floret was ashed. The struc- 
tures of the floret, compared with the seed, are rich 
in minerals, particularly silicon. Concentrations of 
sodium, calcium,.and magnesium in foxtail did not 
differ appreciably between areas. 
In pheasant feathers, mean concentrations of all 
four elements and of total ash were higher for samples 
from Neoga than for those from Sibley (Table 1). The 
differences exhibited by sodium, potassium, and mag- 
nesium were significant. Sodium was almost five times 
and potassium about two and one-half times more 
abundant in feathers from pheasants at Neoga than in 
those from Sibley pheasants. 
The ratio of sodium to potassium was notably 
greater in soils, foxtail seeds, and pheasant feathers 
from Neoga than in those from Sibley (Table 2). Al- 
though the ratio of calcium to magnesium was greater 
in soils and corn from Neoga than in those from Sibley, 
it was identical in foxtail seeds and pheasant feath- 
ers from the two areas. 
The flow of minerals in the ecosystem—from soil to 
plants (seeds) to pheasants (feathers)—did not gen- 
erally reflect a direct relationship (Table 1). The one 
exception was sodium; it was more abundant in soil 
5 
