50 
BULLETIN OF TEE 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 of 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, C. 
Fecundity of the Carolina Wren {Thryothorus ludovicianus). — 
About April 25 I found ‘‘ our pair of Wrens ” very busy, 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 larvse 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 ? — Charles Dury, Avondale, Eaun- 
ilton County, Ohio. 
