Adrenal responses of pen-raised and wild California valley quail (Lophortyx californica) subjected to caging, cold, cortisol, and corticotropin treatments were studied and compared. Groups of pen-raised and wild birds showed no consistent nor significant differences in either adrenal weight or histometry. Spleen weights were highly variable. No histologic evidence of thyroid activation was seen in birds subjected to cold. Experimental treatments, potentially capable of causing marked adrenal responses in common laboratory mammals, were relatively ineffectual in eliciting adrenal responses in the quail. It is suggested that the adrenal, and possibly the thyroid, may be comparatively non-reactive in quail as compared with laboratory mammals.