50 BULLETIN OF THE NUTTALL 



Massachusetts birds being similarly handled in the other. Those who are 

 familiar with these " short cuts " know that it is a stand-off between con- 

 venience and fallibility ; but the reviewer is the last person who should 

 find fault with them. To appreciate Mr. Minot's work as a whole, we 

 may say that its defects are in no way the author's fault, and that they 

 are of the obtrusive and superficial rather than of the grave or serious 

 kind, much easier to pass over than to dwell upon ungraciously ; and that 

 its merits entitle it to full recognition by ornithologists, while they com- 

 mend it very highly to the student and amateur. The mechanical execu- 

 tion of the volume sustains the high reputation the Salem press deserves 

 for good work. — E. C. 



Western Range op Conurus carolinensis. — Mr. E. L. Berthoud, 

 of Golden, Col., writes under date of December 2, 1876 : " I saw the 

 Carolina Parrot, at this place (lat. 39° 45' ; long. 105° 8') and at Denver, 

 on the S. Platte, in 1860-61, and on the Little Thompson River, Col., 

 in 1862. It was abundant in Kansas in 1865-67, since which year I 

 have seen but few, on Smoky Hill and Republican Forks. I have also 

 seen it near old Fort Lyon, on the Arkansas River." I am not aware 

 that the species has hitherto been reported as occurring so far west as Col- 

 orado. — Elliott Coues, Washington, D. G. 



Fecundity of the Carolina Wren {Thryotlwnis ludovicianus). — 

 About April 25 I found " our pair of Wrens " very biisy, the male being 

 followed by five nearly full-fledged young, and the female actively engaged 

 in constructing (under the rafters of our stable) another nest, in which she 

 soon deposited five beautiful eggs, and commenced sitting, cheered by the 

 loud and happy notes of the male, who had by this time got rid of his 

 noisy brood. In due time five more young Wrens made their appearance, 

 and never did birds work harder than did their parents to supply their 

 insatiable appetites. Spiders, bugs, and larva) of every description, were 

 brought in quick succession, and, as a consequence, a rapid growth was 

 the result,»and the brood was out by the fore part of July, following the 

 male and " quivering " their wings in supplication for food. The female 

 immediately set herself at work on another nest, this time under the eaves 

 of a porch. Large quantities of dry leaves and coarse grass and weeds 

 were carried up, and a compact oval structure was made, with a round 

 cavity in the top, partly roofed over. On the 19th of July I found five 

 eggs in the nest, and the female again sitting. Are three broods in a sea- 

 son commonly reared by this species 1 — Charles Dury, Avondalc, Ham- 

 ilton County^ Ohio. 



