50 BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL 



worthy of so valuable a work. These faults of mechanical execution can, 

 however, be easily remedied in a future edition, which we sincerely hope 

 the demand for the work will soon call for. The present volume includes 

 the Song-Birds as far as the Corvidce of Dr. Coues's arrangement, and forms 

 a work that no ornithologist can be without, while its popular character 

 ought to insure it a wide range of readers. — J. A. A. 



(Bmcvxl footed. 



Breeding op the Canada Goose in Trees. — Dr. Coues, in his 

 " Birds of the Northwest " (p. 554), alludes to the breeding of the Canada 

 Goose (Branta canadensis) in trees in " various parts of the Upper Mis- 

 souri and Yellowstone regions." He refers to the fact as being little known, 

 and as not personally verified by himself, though perfectly satisfied of the 

 reliability of the accounts furnished him by various persons, including 

 Mr. J. Stevenson of Dr. Hayden's Survey. Dr. Coues further adds that 

 he found the circumstance to be a matter of common information among 

 the residents of Montana Territory. " The birds," he says, " are stated to 

 build in the heavy timber along the larger streams, and to transport their 

 young to the water in their bills." 



The fact of the breeding of the Canada Goose in trees is further con- 

 firmed by Captain Charles Bendire, who reports its breeding in this man- 

 ner near Camp Harney, under, however, rather peculiar circumstances. 

 In a letter dated Camp Harney, Oregon, April 24, 1876, Captain Bendire 

 writes as follows : " The season is very backward, and scarcely any of the 

 small species of birds have commenced to build yet. The water is very 

 high, and the whole lower Harney valley is flooded. The Western Can- 

 ada Geese seem to have anticipated such a state of affairs, as last year I 

 did not see a single nest of theirs off the ground, while this spring all of 

 them, as far as I have observed personally or have heard of through others, 

 are built in trees off the ground, mostly in willows. Some make use of 

 Herons' nests, and one of a Baven's nest, the only Raven's nest I found 

 last year in a tree." Apropos of this change of habit with circumstances, 

 Captain Bendire asks the pertinent question, " Is it instinct or reason V — 

 J. A. Allen. 



Tarsal Envelope in Campylorhynchus and allied Genera.— 

 Impressed with certain differences observable between typical Wrens and 

 the three Western genera, Camrpijlorhynchus, Salpinctes, and Catherpes, gen- 

 erally assigned to the Troglodytida, I have been led to look into the tech- 

 nical aspects of the case, with the result of becoming dissatisfied with the 

 alleged position of these forms among the Wrens. In establishing the 



