Natural Sciences of Philadelphia 
7 
From this point the foot trail led to the high peaks, and an hour’s 
climb brought one to a surprisingly different environment. 
The oaks and Chihuahua and Apache pines gave way to Douglas 
fir and Mexican white pine; the shrubs and herbs took on a more 
familiar appearance, and instead of the strange plants of the desert 
one found raspberries, strawberries, everlasting, violets, pip- 
sissiwa, larkspur, buttercups, and a brilliant red columbine 
more nearly like our eastern species. 
Of birds these high forests harbored juncos, crossbills, nut¬ 
hatches, chickadees, warblers of several species, crested jays, and 
the band-tailed pigeon - similar in a general way to the avifauna 
of our eastern mountains, though the birds were all different species 
or slightly different geographic varieties. 
As the summer advanced the heavy thunder storms, character¬ 
istic of the region, came on. The mornings would be beautifully 
clear, but about noon the clouds would gather and we would be 
treated to a terrific cannonading from the heavens. The rain 
came down in torrents and our little stream which had almost 
dried up was soon roaring along full to the banks. 
Vegetation made great strides and many low herbs which we 
had found in bloom in May blossomed again in late July. The 
greatest change however took place on the desert and as we gazed 
at it, faraway, from the heights of Ida’s and Barfoot peaks, we 
could clearly see a green flush spread over it day by day concealing 
the bare reddish brown stretches of early summer. Later on, in Au¬ 
gust, when we had an opportunity of studying it close at hand as 
we crossed it to the railroad, we found numbers of plants that we 
had not encountered before, mainly growing in dense tufts and 
mats, and gay with blue, red and yellow flowers, while the long 
trailing vines of gourds and similar species stretched in all direc¬ 
tions like the tentacles of some great octopus. 
The collections brought back to the Academy represent nearly 
all the plants found in Pinery Canyon from the desert to the high 
peaks at its head which bloom before August I, numbering some¬ 
what over 1000 sheets (450 species), as well as some 75 species of 
birds (202 specimens), 15 mammals (40 specimens), 15 reptiles and 
batrachians (75 specimens), and 650 species of insects (5000 speci¬ 
mens). 
The extent of the collection is due in the first place to the gener¬ 
ous hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Law, and to the valuable advice 
and assistance of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hands, as well as in no small 
