232 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
River and along its tributary, Bear Creek. In their days of abundance they were 
found on the mountain sides and nested most commonly at 8,000-9,000 feet. 
While not migratory in the ordinary sense of the word, yet they often moved 
higher, even to timberline, in the late summer and fall and retired to the lower country 
during the winter. In the Manzano Mountains during October, 1903, they were 
found on the ridges clear to the summit at 11,000 feet (Gaut), though most common 
at 8,500 feet and not seen much belo\v 8,000 feet. [Now r nearly exterminated in the 
Manzanos and Sandias (Leopold, 1919)d On the upper part of the Pecos River, near 
Pecos Baldy, a specimen w'as taken July 27,1903, at 10,000 feet (Bailey), and a month 
later the birds had become most common down at 7,000-7,500 feet where they 
found the nuts of the pinyon pine. (In October, 1918, wliile not common, they 
were pretty w r ell distributed throughout the Sangre de Cristo range from Glorieta 
on the Santa Fe Railroad to the Colorado line. Considerable turkey sign was noted 
on Pot Creek and the Little Rio Grande, 10 to 20 miles southeast of Taos. In 
the northeast they were reported rather abundant in the mountains about Cimarron 
(Ligon).] 
In the Mogollon Mountain region where they were common prior to 1916, 
they also descended in winter. At the north end of the Tularosa Range, in 1913, a 
bunch of seven came to the Mayberry Ranch and in 1915 it had increased to 40 
(Ligon). They were common in the fall at Reserve, 6,000 feet (Birdseye), and on 
October 31, 1906, a large flock was seen on Bear Creek near ClifT at about 5,000 feet 
(Bailey), and noted 20 miles east of Silver City (Kellogg). Along the Rio Grande, 
they descended still lower in the winter and were common December, 1824, in the 
bottomlands near Socorro at about 4,500 feet (Thwaite). They remained all 
winter, 1912-13, at 7,500 feet, in the Gila forest reserve (Ligon). On both sides 
of the Black Range, from Chloride to Diamond Creek, in September and October, 
1915, Turkey sign, tracks, and bunches of Turkeys w r ere found. [June 17, 1920, a 
nest was found by B. V. Lilly, with 9 eggs, 22 miles southw'est of Chloride, at 7,000 
feet (Ligon)J From November 9 to December 3, 1915, at Lake La Jara on the 
Jicarilla Reservation, 12 w T ere taken (H. H. Sheldon). In January, 1915, west of 
the Carlsbad Bird Reserve they were noted, though rarely (Willett). In the Guada¬ 
lupe Mountains in Turkey Canyon south of Queen, where they w r ere formerly 
abundant none have been seen since 1906. 
[In 1916-1918, they w r ere holding their own remarkably well and increasing 
in some districts, doubtless owing to the destruction of predatory animals (Ligon). 
At Lake Burford in 1918 old sign w r as seen, and farther south the birds w r ere reported 
as fairly common (Wetmore). In 1922, in northern Santa Fe County they were 
locally quite common, nesting well up in the mountains during the latter part of 
May. Shecpherders and ranchers reported nests with as many as 18 eggs (Jensen). 
In 1924, one w r as seen in Uraca Canyon, about 9 miles southwest of Cimarron, in 
Colfax County. They were quite abundant in that locality and were heard gob¬ 
bling. Considerable sign was seen after this date west of Elizabethtowm and on the 
head of the Red River. In 1927, the records showed that “the most extensive and 
suitable Turkey range in the State and where the birds have remained most 
abundant under adverse conditions is the extensive.forested areas, including the 
Sacramento, White, Pecos, and Jemez mountains, the mountains of Colfax County 
and the San Mateo, Black, and Mogollon ranges (Ligon, 1927, p. 115).]—W. W. 
Cooke. 
Nest. —On the ground in tall thick weeds or briers, lined with grass, weeds, 
and leaves. Eggs: Usually 9 to 12, creamy white, thickly sprinkled with round 
spots of rusty, brown or umber. 
