BOB-WHITES AND QUAILS: MEARNS QUAIL 
225 
On the Carlsbad Bird Reserve, 6 were seen on January 9, and 10, on January 
12, 1915, the first at 6,500 feet altitude (Willett). In the Guadalupe Mountains 
south of Queen, they were fairly common December 31, 1915. In Socorro [Catron] 
County, 15 miles northwest of Reserve, a few small bunches were seen at about 
7,800 feet, February 9, 1915. They occur in the San Andres, Caballos, San Mateo, 
Magdalena, and Datil Mountains. In 1915 there was a good increase in their 
numbers. They were common at the north end of the Cuchillo Mountains, April 
18, 1915. [In 1916 they were “not abundant, but well distributed over the southern 
portion of the State.” On July 8, 1917, several pairs were seen on Main and South 
Diamonds, west slope of the Black Range, mainly with young about a week old. 
Ten years later they were “most common in the Black Range, along the precipi¬ 
tous rims and canyons that encircle the San Augustine Plains, and in the desert 
mountain ranges of the extreme southwestern section of the State. They are not 
found cast of the Pecos River in New Mexico” (Ligon, 1927, p. 140).1 —W. W. Cooke. 
Map 7. Mearns Quail 
Shaded areas show breeding and resident range 
