NATURAL HISTORY WORK IN CART AGO J^ 



neas. A tiny stream flowed down this part of the lane, 

 Selaginellas and thick green mosses covered the stones and 

 tree-trunks, and it was often hard to realize, while standing 

 in the cool deep shadows of these trees, that less than fifty 

 feet away the open potreros were panting under the brilliant 

 tropical sunlight. Still lower, there were few trees, but 

 hedges of Xylosma, many clumps of wild roses with pale 

 pink, very double flowers and scattered through the grass 

 numerous boulders of andesite lavas, each one the center of 

 a little thicket of roses or the creeping sensitive plant. The 

 lane ended in a grassy cross lane (that is, east-west) along 

 one side of which ran the "bloody ditch" a stream that 

 carried the refuse from the slaughterhouse and this cross 

 lane finally led to the main road to Agua Caliente, — but as 

 it lost in interest as it neared the high road we rarely followed 

 it so far. 



When we first traveled down the Shady Lane in May, 

 1909, it contained no water except the little stream in the 

 lower part, but the conditions varied greatly during the 

 year. In late June there were many pools but we could 

 pick a path through the lane. On August 20 we found the 

 greater part of the lane a pond with hummocks of higher 

 grass as islands and the smaller plants almost entirely sub- 

 merged. Many dragonflies — or "planchitas" as we once 

 heard an Indian call them here — were darting about laying 

 eggs and from the place once a dry grassy path we dredged 

 up quantities of dragonfly larvae and a tadpole two inches 

 long. In this condition the lane remained for about two 

 months, a most useful source of food and material to us and 

 always interesting to visit. On October 14, therefore, we 

 were greatly disappointed to find that it had been utterly 

 ruined for our purposes of larva-hunting, by having a number 

 of cattle driven through it. Their hoofs trampled the smaller 

 plants and converted large grassy watery stretches into 



