A FEBRUARY PICNIC IN CALIFORNIA. 



ft was February twenty-second — 

 Washington's Birthday — and a jolly 

 party of children, chaperoned by two 

 of the mothers, had decided to cele- 

 brate the day by going on a trip to 

 Rock Basin — one of their favorite spots 

 situated in the foothills of the Sierra 

 Madre mountains in Southern Califor- 

 nia. It was a beautiful, warm morning 

 and the children were in high spirits as, 

 basket in hand, they tramped away on 

 this pleasure trip. 



As they followed the wagon road a 

 beautiful meadow lark settled on the 

 top of a live oak tree that grew close 

 by, and greeted them with his joyful 

 song; and in the neighboring field many 

 'ground squirrels scampered about, 

 dodging into their holes and standing 

 up on their hind legs until they looked 

 like little brown sticks rather than ani- 

 mals. Just beyond the field of squir- 

 rels the wagon road narrowed to a trail 

 which led them down a steep hill and 

 into a little canyon. California had 

 been blessed with copious rains that 

 year and in consequence the hills that 

 surrounded them on all sides were 

 green with shrubs, grass and flowers. 

 There was the sage bush alive with 

 bees intent on extracting the nectar 

 from which they make most delicious 

 honey; there was the burr clover bright 

 with many dainty yellow blossoms; the 

 aHfilaria (the California cow's wild hay) 

 was sending forth its pretty bloom, a 

 small purplish-pink star; and there, 

 almost touching the path, grew the wild 

 peony. The older members of the 

 party knew it at once from its resem- 

 blance to its cultivated eastern sister, 

 for though the flowers were much 

 smaller and less showy than the tame 

 plant, the leaves were an exact counter- 

 part of the treasured "piny" that grew 

 in grandmother's garden. 



Not far away some one spied a poi- 

 son oak and warned the others. This 

 pretty shrub was sending up many beau- 

 tiful red shoots, inviting one to pick 

 them for a bouquet; but the red chal- 

 lenge was lost upon this joilly crowd, for 



being frequenters of the California hills 

 they knew this oak and its poisonous 

 effects. 



From a live oak tree growing on the 

 hill to which their path was leading 

 them and up which they must climb to 

 reach Rock Basin, floated the sweet 

 notes of the mocking bird. How he did 

 sing! It seemed as though he would 

 surely burst his pretty throat! Was he 

 striving in his own sweet way to tell 

 them to take courage; that the hill was 

 not as steep as it looked and that they 

 might rest under his tree when they 

 had gained the top? To the chaperons 

 of the party that hill seemed intermin- 

 able, and they longed for the shade of 

 the tree above to shield them from the 

 hot winter sun. An agile little brown 

 chameleon darted across the path and 

 hid in the crevice of a rock, safe from 

 these intruding strangers. The climb 

 was a hard' one but the view that greeted 

 the climbers fully repaid them for their 

 labor. With exclamations of dehght 

 they gazed first down upon the pretty 

 green canyon that they had left, and 

 then at the panorama that lay spread 

 before them on the other side. At their 

 feet the hill dropped abruptly several 

 hundred feet and its sides were covered 

 with large oaks, sycamores, underbrush, 

 ferns and flowers. Beyond was a fer- 

 tile valley and still farther away Pasa- 

 dena, "Crown of the Valley," stood out 

 against the Sierra Madre mountains, 

 which were in turn silhouetted against 

 a deep blue sky, making a picture fit for 

 an artist's brush. Adding not a little to 

 this scene was the view presented of 

 that grand stately peak, which towered 

 above its brothers and from its crown 

 of snow was commonly known as 

 "Baldy." 



What a change from this patch of 

 glittering snow on the mountain top to 

 the valley below! There, a field of 

 golden poppies were blazing forth their 

 glory. Their scientific name, EscJiscJwIt- 

 cia californica, seems rather a formid- 

 able one and: not half so pretty or appro- 



