SOUTH WESTERN QUAIL 
 
were right in the normal breeding season, though I am 
not informed whether young were present. I have just 
had a male Mearns quail (Cyrtonyx montezumae 
mearnsi) which with a female reached me in November, 
1927. At that time these quail were in juvenile plumage, 
but practically full grown. They were placed for obser- 
vation in a small cage on my own back lot. Water was 
provided at first, but they appeared to be oblivious to it, 
and after a few days the pan was removed. From then, 
say December 1, until February 15, 1928, those quail had 
no water supply. The winter season had been one of low 
precipitation and no water whatever remained on the 
ground or in the cage after the infrequent rains. They 
throve and assumed adult plumage on a diet consisting 
mainly of seeds (wheat, sunflower, cracked grain, cactus 
seeds and a very few acorns), with occasional locusts in 
December, and, at intervals, not daily, boiled egg or bits 
of apple. On the latter date the female (during a snow- 
storm, and in my absence) perished. Shelter was avail- 
able, and cause of death a mystery. Certainly lack of 
water was not the cause, for the best water supply of the 
period was then available. This species, it may be re- 
marked, was not included with the other two because its 
habitat is at elevations where water is more frequently 
available. The male lived and thrived under the same 
conditions until March 31, when it was placed in the uni- 
versity aviary. 
Now as to nesting, while observations on this are not so 
numerous as on the coveys of adults, there does not 
appear on this range reserve any reason to believe that 
nests are congregated about water supplies. Were that 
the case, then an abundance of adult birds should be 
noted in restricted areas during the nesting season and 
such is not the case. I once saw on August 11 a scaled 
quail's nest in one of our experimental enclosures on the 
reserve, a location at least two miles from water in any 
direction. Not even in the rainy season do pools remain 
for more than a few hours after a rain on the natural sur- 
 
No. 682]