ape Wi: as 
ae | 
Fig. 6.—This prairie chicken, 
captured by nightlighting, was marked for subsequent identification with a plastic backtag prior to 
its release. (Most of the pheasants and bobwhites captured by nightlighting were also marked with backtags to facilitate behavioral 
and ecological studies.) 
Bobwhites 
30bwhites were susceptible to capture by nightlight- 
ing, but the problems involved in capturing them were 
much different from those encountered in capturing 
pheasants or prairie chickens. Locating coveys of roost- 
ing bobwhites was perhaps the most time-consuming 
part of the operation. This problem was most acute 
in areas where bobwhite densities were low or where 
uneven topography, often characteristic of good bob- 
white range in Illinois, made it impossible to use a 
vehicle. Beforehand knowledge of covey ranges les- 
sened the cruising time expended in locating roosting 
coveys at night. Bartholomew (1967:3) tried to ex- 
pedite the problem of locating coveys at night by 
working pointing dogs ahead of the lights, but con- 
cluded that the systematic search of fields with the 
nightlighting rig was still the best method for locating 
roosting bobwhites. 
Usually the first indication of the presence of a 
roosting covey was when the birds flushed in the light 
ahead of, and usually close to, the vehicle. If a covey 
was sighted in a roosting rosette and could be pin- 
pointed in the spotlight beam, all or most of the covey 
members could be captured in a single netting attempt. 
When a covey flushed, individuals scattered in all di- 
rections, but usually alighted within 5-75 yards of the 
flush point. Consequently, the floodlights were often 
left on when a covey flushed so that both driver and 
netter could observe the flightlines and flush distances 
of as many of the birds as possible. In these instances 
the spotlight was still used to “knock down” individual 
birds, particularly those that flew beyond the area 
illuminated by the floodlights. 
The techniques used for trapping bobwhites de- 
pended on the type of habitat. When vegetative cover 
was relatively light, as in fields of small-grain stubble, 
birds from a flushed covey usually walked or ran after 
alighting. It was not unusual for a covey to “pop” into 
the air, alight immediately, and then run, often stay- 
