12 



WILD LIFE IN CALIFORNIA 



Dr. Bradley called our attention to the fact 

 that the nest was that of the Honey ant, 

 Myrmecocystus Melliger. A peculiar feature 

 of this specie is that it makes provision for 

 food to carry it through the season when its 

 peculiar food is unobtainable. It gathers a 

 honey-like substance presumably from flowers 

 which is fed to and then stored in the ab- 

 domen of one form of the workers designed 

 by nature for the purpose. When filled the 

 abdomen is inflated to the size and shape of a 

 cherry stone. After being gorged with the 

 nectar the live storage vats cling to the roof 

 of their home underground until later in the 

 year when food is scarce and it becomes 

 necessary for the other members of the colony 

 to resort to the storage ant for subsistence, 

 which they disgorge to their fellows through 

 their mouths. 



The Doctor also pointed out eight or ten 

 different species of ants along the road, one 

 of which was peculiar to this part of the 

 world; and besides, showed us another, a 

 Myrmicidae, extremely rare, which we found 

 in Andreas Canyon. 



We came across four or five birds, mem- 

 bers of the thrush family. They looked like 

 our russet-backs, but the color seemed darker 

 and the spots on the breast more pronounced. 

 They might have aided us in identification 

 by rendering a note or two, but they pre- 

 ferred to remain silent, so we were compelled 

 to continue on our journey without deter- 

 mining their exact place in avifauna of Cali- 

 fornia. My pedometer recorded nine miles 

 walking for the trip. 



On a previous occasion Ed and I visited the 

 entrance to Andreas Canyon while on our way 

 back from Palm Canyon. We did not have 

 time to explore the canyon for any distance 

 but satisfied ourselves with looking around 

 the little meadow of an acre or so in size, 

 which is dotted with a clump of palms with 

 their petticoats unburned; also with alders 

 and cottonwood trees. In one place the palms 

 and other trees were so thick that the sun's 

 rays could not penetrate the branches and 

 leaves and interfere with the perpetual shade 

 made by the thick growth. At one time the 

 canyon was a popular camping place for peo- 

 ple who wished to visit the desert, but re- 

 cently government agents have ordered 

 campers away. From the canyon to the inn 

 the distance was a little over four miles. It 

 was while walking this stretch that we came 

 across the first wild apricot trees. The fruit 

 and leaves are much like those of the culti- 

 vated tree, but both are considerably smaller. 

 We were informed that the government is 

 making some tests at the experimental station 

 at Indio with the wild tree to see if it or its 

 roots cannot be utilized to some advantage 

 to our fruit growers. 



After getting off the fan of the canyon, we 

 found a road leading into Palm Springs. The 

 walking of course was easier, but we were 

 also glad to get away from having to dodge 

 the choya cactus, which was growing in 

 greater quantity over the section we had 

 traveled than we had experienced elsewhere. 

 It grows from three to six feet tall, the main 



stalks being about three inches in diameter; 

 these stalks throw out contorted branches 

 and sub-branches without order or system. 

 The thing is covered with barbed-spines from 

 top to bottom which it parts with on the 

 slightest provocation. Some people think that 

 the plant shoots its spines at passersby, which 

 absurdity I was almost willing to endorse for 

 a time. When once in your flesh it takes 

 strength and a pair of tweezers to extract the 

 thorn. 



Along the road we found some datura plants 

 in bloom, a plant that is very common in the 

 San Joaquin valley. It has a beautiful large 

 flower, but is so plentiful that it is classed 

 with the weeds by some people. We found 

 more than ordinary interest in these flowers, 

 discovering that they were harboring some 

 interesting beetles. 



On the 26th day of March the sky was 

 slightly overcast and the day much cooler, 

 but very agreeable for those at the Springs. 

 We could see, though, that out on the desert, 

 eight or ten miles away, the wind was blow- 

 ing hard, and the air was filled with dust 

 and sand, almost obscuring the view of the 

 San Bernardino range of mountains that bor- 

 der the easterly side of the desert. 



While watching the cloud of dust being 

 driven from the northwestern end of the 

 desert with a speed that implied an unusual 

 wind mileage, I noted that the disturbance 

 did not seem to extend beyond the great sand 

 dunes in the middle of the . desert. For some 

 distance south of these great mountains of 

 sand the air was practically clear. Here was 

 a possible clew accounting for the presence 

 of the dunes, which had heretofore been 

 something of a puzzle to my mind in trying 

 to find a reason for their occurrence at that 

 particular spot. It appeared to me that it was 

 probable that the heated air of the desert 

 rising admitted a rush of cold air through the 

 gap in the mountains at the northwestern end 

 of the desert to take its place. The hotter the 

 weather the more rapid the rarification and 

 less resistance to the cold air pressing in from 

 the ocean side. The cold air would travel over 

 the* desert until it became heated and thus 

 made to lose its onward force and become like 

 the rest of the desert air. Then its horizontal 

 movement changed to an upward direction. 

 Its capacity to carry sand and heavy dust 

 gradually ended with the change of its tem- 

 perature and upward movement. These dunes 

 are located about forty miles from the gap or 

 northwestern end of the desert. Apparently 

 then the ocean, or cold, winds are modified 

 by degrees to the same temperature and con- 

 dition of the general atmosphere of the 

 desert while passing over this distance, there- 

 fore losing their dirt-carrying capacity at the 

 end of the forty miles. This change taking 

 place practically at the same spot for ages, 

 there is now piled up a great mass of sand 

 2000 or more feet high and several miles 

 long — a huge monument to one of the forces 

 of nature — the wind. 



The change in temperature of the entering 

 cold winds is effected slowly as it passes over 

 the desert. This fact is indicated by the form 



