USA > California > Los Angeles County > Pasadena > History of Pasadena, comprising an account of the native Indian, the early Spanish, the Mexican, the American, the colony, and the incorporated city, occupancies of the Rancho San Pasqual, and its adjacent mountains, canyons, waterfalls and other objects of interest: being a complete and comprehensive histo-cyclopedia of all matters pertaining to this region > Part 73
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LITTLE FLYCATCHER - Empidonax pusillus.
HAMMOND'S FLYCATCHER - Empidonax hammondi.
WRIGHT'S FLYCATCHER - Empidonax wrightii.
MEXICAN HORNED LARK - Otocoris alpestris chrysolaema.
BLUE-FRONTED JAY - Cyanocitta stelleri frontalis.
CALIFORNIA JAY - Aphelocoma californica.
AMERICAN RAVEN - Corvus corax sinuatus.
CALIFORNIA CROW - Corvus americanus californicus.
CLARKE'S NUTCRACKER - Picicorvus columbianus.
YELLOW-HEADED BLACKBIRD - Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus.
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD - Agelaius phoeniceus.
WESTERN MEADOWLARK - Sturnella magna neglecta.
ARIZONA HOODED ORIOLE - Icterus cucullatus nelsoni.
BULLOCK'S ORIOLE - Icterus bullocki.
BREWER'S BLACKBIRD (Common Blackbird) -Scolecophagus cyano- cephalus.
WESTERN EVENING GROSBEAK - Coccothraustes vespertinus montanus. CALIFORNIA PURPLE FINCH - Carpodacus purpureus californicus.
CASSIN'S PURPLE FINCH - Carpodacus cassini.
HOUSE FINCH (Linnet) - Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis.
WESTERN GOLDFINCH - Spinus tristis pallidus.
ARKANSAS GOLDFINCH (Wild Canary) -Spinus psaltria.
LAWRENCE'S GOLDFINCH - Spinus lawrencei.
PINE SISKIN -Spinus pinus.
WESTERN VESPER SPARROW - Poocaetes gramineus confinis. OREGON VESPER SPARROW - Poocaetes gramineus affinis.
WESTERN SAVANNA SPARROW - Ammodramus sandwichensis alau- dinus.
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WESTERN GRASSHOPPER SPARROW - Ammodramus savannarum per- pallidus.
WESTERN LARK SPARROW -Chondestes grammacus strigatus.
INTERMEDIATE SPARROW - Zonotrichia leucophrys intermedia.
GAMBEL'S SPARROW - Zonotrichia leucophrys gambeli. WHITE-THROATED SPARROW - Zonotrichia albicollis.
WESTERN CHIPPING SPARROW - Spizella socialis arizonae. THURBER'S JUNCO (Snowbird) - Junco hyemalis thurberi.
BELL'S SPARROW - Amphispiza belli.
RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW - Peucaea ruficeps.
HEERMANN'S SONG SPARROW - Melospiza fasciata heermanni.
LINCOLN'S SPARROW - Melospiza lincolni.
TOWNSEND'S SPARROW - Passerella iliaca unalaschcensis.
THICK-BILLED SPARROW - Passerella iliaca megarhyncha.
SPURRED TOWHEE - Pipilo maculatus megalonyx.
CALIFORNIA TOWHEE - Pipilo fuscus crissalis.
BLACK-HEADED GROSBEAK - Habia melanocephala.
WESTERN BLUE GROSBEAK - Guiraca caerulea eurhyncha.
LAZULI BUNTING - Passerina amoena.
LOUISIANA TANAGER - Piranga ludoviciana.
WESTERN MARTIN - Progne subis hesperia.
CLIFF SWALLOW --- Petrochelidon lunifrons.
BARN SWALLOW - Chelidon erythrogaster.
TREE SWALLOW -- Tachycineta bicolor.
VIOLET-GREEN SWALLOW -Tachycineta thalassina.
BANK SWALLOW - Clivicola riparia.
ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW - Stelgidopteryx serripennis.
CEDAR WAXWING - Ampelis cedrorum.
PHAINOPEPLA - Phainopepla nitens.
CALIFORNIA SHRIKE [butcher-bird] - Lanius ludovicianus gambeli. WESTERN WARBLING VIREO- Vireo gilvus swainsoni. CASSIN'S VIREO - Vireo solitarius cassinii.
HUTTON'S VIREO - Vireo huttoni.
LEAST VIREO- Vireo bellii pusillus.
CALAVERAS WARBLER -Helminthophila ruficapilla gutturalis.
ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER - Helminthophila celata.
LUTESCENT WARBLER - Helminthophila celata lutescens.
WESTERN YELLOW WARBLER - Dendroica aestiva morcomi.
AUDUBON'S WARBLER -Dendroica auduboni.
BLACK-THROATED GRAY WARBLER - Dendroica nigrescens. TOWNSEND'S WARBLER - Dendroica townsendi.
HERMIT WARBLER - Dendroica occidentalis.
MACGILLIVRAY'S WARBLER -Geothlypis macgillivrayi.
WESTERN YELLOW THROAT- Geothlypis trichas occidentalis.
LONG-TAILED CHAT- Icteria virens longicauda.
PILEOLATED WARBLER -Sylvania pusilla pileolata. AMERICAN PIPIT- Anthus pensilvanicus.
AMERICAN DIPPER [water ouzel] - Cinclus mexicanus.
MOCKING-BIRD - Mimus polyglottos.
CALIFORNIAN THRASHER [curved-billed thrush ] - Harporhynchus redivivus.
CACTUS WREN - Campylorhynchus brunneicapillus.
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ROCK WREN - Salpinctes obsoletus.
CANYON WREN -Catherpes mexicanus conspersus.
VIGOR'S WREN -Thryothorus bewickii spilurus.
PARKMAN'S WREN -Troglodytes aedon parkmanii. WESTERN WINTER WREN - Troglodytes hiemalis pacificus.
TULE WREN - Cistothorus palustris paludicola.
CALIFORNIAN CREEPER-Certhia familiaris occidentalis.
SLENDER-BILLED NUTHATCH -Sita carolinensis aculeata.
PLAIN TITMOUSE - Parus inornatus.
MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE- Parus gambeli.
WREN TIT-Chamaea fasciata.
CALIFORNIAN BUSH-TIT - Psaltriparus minimus californicus.
WESTERN GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET- Regulus satrapa olivaceous.
RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET- Regulus calendula.
WESTERN GNATCATCHER - Polioptila caerulea obscura.
BLACK-TAILED GNATCATCHER - Polioptila californica.
TOWNSEND'S SOLETAIRE- Myiadestes townsendi.
RUSSET-BACKED THRUSH-Turdus ustulatus.
DWARF HERMIT THRUSH-Turdus aonalaschkae.
WESTERN ROBIN - Merula migratoria propinqua. VARIED THRUSH - Hesperocichla naevia.
WESTERN BLUEBIRD - Sialia mexicana occidentalis.
MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD - Sialia arctica.
This list contains no water birds, and only such land birds as have been positively identified within a radius of eight miles of Pasadena. There are between twenty and thirty species of water birds, such as ducks, geese, herons, sandpipers and rails, which have also been observed in the area ; but these are almost without exception identical with those found in any American marsh. The total variety of birds found in Los Angeles county amounts to over 200 species.
NOTE .- The above is the first complete list or catalogue of our native Pasadena birds that was ever prepared for print, and I am much indebted to young Mr. Grinnell for his zeal and good work in preparing it specially for this volume .- EDR.
WILL WAKELEY'S SPECIMENS.
W. H. Wakeley came to Pasadena in 1881 and was the first taxidermist ever here. He was an enthusiastic student and collector of our native birds, and for ten years was looked to as authority on any question as to their species, habits, range, markings, etc. The authority which he fol- lowed in this branch of science was "North American Birds," by Baird, Brewer and Ridgway. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1874 :- a work of high standing. In January, 1887, Mr. Wakeley founded the Natural History Store, now owned by Frank A. Healy & Co. [1894]; and later he founded "Wakeley's Novelty Works." And since engaging so largely in this line of business he has been obliged to neglect his favorite study of birds, so that younger students have come forward and occupied the field, such as Masters Joseph Grinnell, Ralph Arnold and Horace Gay- lord, who have each made excellent collections, exceeding Mr. Wakeley's
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in number and variety of native specimens. But we still quote Mr. Wake- ley as good authority on Pasadena birds. He says the California mocking bird was not found north of Los Angeles county ten years ago, although it may be now ; and that the California pygmy owl is the smallest owl in the world; he has seven varieties of native owls in his collection. In Febru- ary, 1886, he found an albino finch-a specimen all white, and entirely new to science, hence its scientific name would be Fringilla Alba Wakeleyii. In 1890 old Mr. Giddings shot another albino linnet or finch (all pure white), at his home place, Giddings Heights.
REPTILES.
Our most celebrated and characteristic reptile is the "horned toad," so called, but which is not a toad at all but a species of lizard - Phrynosoma cornuta. It burrows in the dry sand and dust, and lies dormant during the winter season, coming out to run about and mate only in the warmest weather. It is as harmless as a pet kitten, and when laid upon your warm hand and gently stroked on its back with the other hand, it will blink its eyes in a lazy, dreamy, contented sort of way, as if it really enjoyed the warmth and the caressing. I have caught specimens from the size of my finger nail up to nearly as large as my hand. They abound all over Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and old Mexico. It is a regular business in Pasadena to stuff and mount horned toads to sell as California curios. In August, 1886, W. H. Wakeley advertised for 1000 horned toads for taxidermy purposes, and this set an army of boys scurrying about the dusty plains and barrens, filling their pockets with horned toads and earning many nickels for their own pocket money. In 1893 Wakeley's Novelty Works mounted between 5,000 and 6,000 horned toads for the California tourist and eastern trade, besides 100 dozen tarantulas, 100 dozen scorpions, and a considerable number of trap-door spider nests and centi- pedes.
ROCK LIZARD .- In all canyons, mountain sides and rocky places the California rock lizard will be seen-three varieties of him, to-wit: black, gray, and iridescent or metallic luster lizard, but all of the same species. The long-tailed lizard, or "snake-lizard," as it is mostly called, is a different species-is more sluggish, more retiring, and not often seen .* I once caught one which was thirteen inches long, about three-fourths of this length being tail ; the body is more bulky and clumsy than the rock lizard, and as I held it up by the tail it made a hissing noise like a snake and thrust out a snake-like forked tongue. I have never caught but this one, and have had brief glimpses of only three others. They are not numerous and are
*"The Times correspondent at San Diego captured what is commonly known as " rattlesnake lizard " on Saturday. In form the creature resembles the Gila monster. Its general appearance is that of a rattlesnake with legs. The head is like that of the rattler. The markings of the reptile's back are like the markings of the snake. But the lizard's tail is devoid of rattles."-Los Angeles Times, March 18, 1895.
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very shy. Joseph Grinnell relates that once when he shot a delicate little cactus wren it fell down under the cactus bush and disappeared ; and after searching some time for his prize he discovered a snake-lizard crawling away with the bird in its mouth. Then he captured the lizard also, which was eight inches long, and he has it in his collection. Our Pasadena lizards are all harmless, though the long-tailed, snaky fellow seems to have teeth for eating tougher meat than the flies and tiny worms on which the others feed.
In the pools that occur so often in the mountain canyons there will gen- erally be found a pair or more of salamanders; called also "water puppies," "water lizards," etc. They are of a reddish-brown color, perfectly harm- less, and live in or out of the water, being amphibian batrachians, ambly- stoma rubrum by name.
In Wilson lake is found a small species of mud turtle ; also found in the tule pond or lagoon in upper part of San Marino canyon [see page 377], and in pools in the Arroyo Seco.
RATTLESNAKES were formerly common in all parts of Pasadenaland,* but they are now rarely found on the mesa, the advance of cultivation hav- ing nearly exterminated them ; in the mountains, however, they still occur. There seems to be two varieties-a smaller one of dark slate color ; and a larger, thicker-bodied, more sluggish one, of a reddish-brown color.
THE RED RACER is a snake peculiar to the country, and in some respects is similar to the black racer of the east-in fact, some observers say it is identical except in color. Mr. A. P. Janney, on East Union street, informs me that he kept a red racer snake two years at his place, in a box cage, and never knew it to eat or drink, although it shed its skin regularly ; and once he chanced to see it in the very act of shuffling off its last year's overcoat. He finally sold it to a menagerie at Los Angeles. It is probably the swiftest-running snake of its size that we have any account of. In May, 1888, I saw one that measured five feet four and one-half inches : very slender ; pinky on belly, dappled pinky on back, and a splotch of black on the neck. It was killed in a back door yard, where it was trying to catch some little chicks. In July the same year I saw another one, three feet eleven inches long, and with reddish, whitish and bluish colors. We called him the " 4th-of-July snake."
THE GOPHER SNAKE is a large, long fellow that ought never to be killed, for it feeds almost entirely on young gophers, ground squirrels, etc., which it catches by crawling into their holes and nesting places, and is thus a true friend of the farmer.
In 1884 I saw a long, lithe specimen of water snake in the Arroyo Seco stream nearly where the Scoville dam now stands, but have not seen any other of this kind except a small one in a pool in Rubio canyon.
* See Judge Eaton's statement, on page 123 ; and I. B. Clapp's on page 119. It stands of record that Mrs. Dr. Reid killed a rattlesnake with a stick, in Castle canyou, in August, 1893 ; and in August, 1894, Mrs. Dr. Grinnell shot one in the Arroyo above Devil's Gate, which her son Joseph skinned and pre- served.
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In the mountain canyons is found the coral snake, which is marked with black and white, perhaps half an inch wide, around its body in regular alternation from head to tail. The first specimen I ever saw of this snake was in San Dimas canyon [twenty-five miles east of Pasadena] four or five miles up from its mouth, in 1888 ; then in 1893 I saw two specimens of it in Echo canyon, one of them being marked with red and black instead of white and black bands.
There are several varieties of smaller ophidian reptiles, such as striped or garter snakes, grass snakes, bush snakes, spotted snakes, etc. None of our snakes are venomous except the rattlers.
We have a large, warty garden toad, with some peculiarities that mark him as a California variety of the bufonidae. There is also a species of tree toad.
OF FROGS there are several varieties. The common pond frog abounds in the tule bogs, reservoir dams, springs and water ways of our Glacial Ter- race canyons, where it can be found any time of the year. The mud frog lies dormant in the clayey beds of dried-up ponds during the dry season ; but when the winter rains form ponds or puddles he emerges into life, and makes the evening air melodious with its song of tirr-r-r-r-r-r. The winter pond existing for many successive years at northwest corner of Colorado and De Lacy streets, furnished music of this sort for the whole city. But the place is now filled up. In the mountain canyons there are delicate rock frogs, of colors varying to suit the colors of the rocks in their particular stream, pot-hole, or pool.
The biological department of the Throop Polytechnic Institute has planned to make a special study of Pasadena reptiles during 1895-96, which will doubtless result in their complete scientific classification, and special description of such as are new species. Nothing of the kind has been done heretofore.
INSECTS.
The scorpion is doubtless our most characteristic native insect. There seems to be two varieties of it. They are now rarely found in or about Pas- adena ; their capture and mounting as curios seems to have almost extermin- ated them from this region. Wakeley's novelty works put up 100 dozen of them in 1893. The dread of their sting is largely imaginary. I have not heard of but one person here, Col. J. Banbury, ever being stung by one. This was in the colony days. He was loading wood and chips into a wagon ; the scorpion stung his hand ; he brushed it away, went on with his work, did nothing for the wound, forgot all about it, and it passed off as readily as the sting of a bee or a wasp would. And Judge Eaton says he never heard of any harm from them.
Of centipedes there seems to be two, or perhaps three varieties-one very large, of dull white or light straw color ; and a smaller kind, sometimes
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white and sometimes of a streaky green color-possibly mere variations of sex or season. The largest kind have been found even eight inches in length. There is no evidence that their bite is poisonous, but they have forcep jaws and can inflict quite a severe wound-and the very thought of being bitten by such a disgusting looking creature is enough to make one feel poison-shivers all over him and grow sick at the stomach.
Another of our famous insects is the tarantula ; and of this singular creature Miss Monks, who was at one time the foremost entomologist of Los Angeles county, said in the Historical Society's publications for 1886 :
"The Tarantula (Mygale Hentzii) is large-when extended it often covers the space of four or more inches; it is very hairy, black or dark brown in color, with sometimes an ashy tinge, and has long legs, which in- dicate a wanderer.
"The Trap-door spider (Cteniza Californica) is only half as large, is downy, pale brown, and has short legs. There is the greatest possible dif- ference of opinion in regard to the tube-building habit of the two species. I have never found a tarantula in a nest with a trap-door, nor a trap-door spider in one with an open mouth. I have put Mygales of both sexes in jars of earth, and they would never attempt to build tubes. They pull bits of earth together and spin a little silk, then stop-seemingly satisfied with the result of their labor. On the other hand, Ctenizas invariably go to work the first night and dig a tube, and generally add the door the second night."
The males of these two species will always fight till one or the other is killed, and most commonly both die in the struggle. As late as 1883 it was considered " sport " in Los Angeles to put some dirt in the bottom of an empty gold-fish jar, then put in a pair of these belligerent insects, and make bets as to which one would "whip." I witnessed this several times in store windows on Main street ; and on one occasion I saw the larger one of the two spiders fighting away after its entrails were torn out and dragging under its feet. But I believe Pasadena never got quite so low down for "sport" as this. The Pasadena Star of October 19, 1892, said :
" Two of our Lake Avenue citizens have just returned from a four days' tour in the country hunting for specimen tarantulas. They secured over 400 specimens, most of them large size, and all of them females."
Van Dyke says of these insects :
"The largest are nearly two and one-half inches long by one and one- half wide, with long, thick, curved legs, and body low hung so that the curved part of the legs is above the back. It looks like an immense spider. The body is covered with short hairs. * *
* They have two black curved tusks in the upper jaw, long and sharp, which they can set [bite] through a green twig the size of a lead pencil."
The tarantula hawk, Pompilus formosus, is a large species of wasp that makes a business of stinging tarantulas whenever it can get a chance. It stings them in the back, striking down into the central ganglia of the Mygale' s nervous system, thus thrusting its waspy virus into the very life center of the victim. This gives it a sort of paralysis or numb palsy so that it cannot
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fight nor crawl away, but it still lives. The wasp then digs a small pit for the tarantula to drop into, and lays its eggs there; and when the little wasp grubs come forth they burrow into the body of the paralytic which their provident mother had fixed there for them, and grow fat and sleek on its tarantulan juices.
A very large insect called " hawk moth " has a spread of wings four to five inches, and a very long proboscis or suction tube, which it has to wind up into three or four coils when it flies. It may be seen hovering over flowers in the evening, sucking honey through its long tube, and is often mistaken for some curious species of humming bird. Colors, gray, black and yellow. It is the tomato worm moth, or 5-spotted sphinx.
Another conspicuous insect is the white-lined sphinx. It is olive green, white, black and rose colored, or a sort of pinkish tinge ; it also hovers about the honey flowers in the evening, with a three-inch spread of wing: and is frequently mistaken for a species of humming bird. I have some- times seen I suppose a thousand of these moths lying dead around on the ground under an argand electric light, into the fiery glare of which they and other species had plunged to their death during the night.
The Jerusalem cricket, or "Spanish cricket " as it is also called, is a peculiarly large California variety. It incubates deep in the ground during the dry season, and when the rains come to soften the earth, and the early spring warmth develops life generally, this creature bores its way to the sur- face and comes forth. It is a large, fat, clumsy cricket-I think the largest one known-and furnishes a rare feast for poultry and some of the larger native birds. It is a pest in the potato field and injures the crop by gnaw- ing cavities in the potatoes when they are nearly or quite full grown.
In the early colony days Pasadena was ravaged with grasshoppers-a local variety, and not the migratory grasshopper or "locust " of the easterly Rocky mountain slopes. But the plowing from year to year destroyed their eggs by exposure, and the Pasadena grasshoper is no longer known as a pest. [See page 144.]
In 1893, at Echo Mountain I found specimens of the " praying Mantis," a species of the "walking leaf " insects. It is a small or medium sized variety, and most likely to be found on sycamore trees or willows. I have never seen it except in Echo canyon or glen, though I doubt not it occurs elsewhere ; and it is one of the most singular of our native insects. Sobieski Lowe in 1893, and Joseph Grinnell in 1894, both informed me that they had found specimens of this rare insect at the same place, but not elsewhere.
In the little ponds of the mountain canyons there is found a very curious kind of water beetle-a real amphibian insect, for when the pool it happens to be in dries up, it will spread its wings and fly away to another. But ordinarily it looks like a small turtle creeping about at the bottom of a pool, and without necessity of coming to the surface for air ; yet it can live
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also in the air when necessary. This singular creature carries its eggs on the shell-like wingcases over its back, says Jason Brown, where they some- times appear thickly massed together, but always in orderly arrangement. In this respect it is an approach toward the dorsological baby house style of incubation, heretofore known only in the Surinam toad.
Of a species of woolly spider I have seen both white and red varieties in the mountains.
Of course this is no place for a complete list of our native insects, for they run up into thousands of species or varieties. Van Dyke says there are at least ten different kinds of musquito here. I have only mentioned a few of the more notable insects, because of their singularity, or because as California curios they have become in some sense historic. The Pasa- dena field of Entomology is a very large one, entirely unworked, and lies open for some of our young naturalists to delve in and win fame. One of the queer things in this line is, that bedbugs and cockroaches cannot live here. Every season for the past twenty years bedbugs have been brought to Pasadena in clothing, in bedding, in carpets, or in furniture, yet they never live to propagate their species ; the same is true of cockroaches. The reason for it still remains an unsolved problem for our young scientists to wrestle with.
As to books on California Entomology, a volume of 472 pages was pub- lished by H. S. Crocker & Co., Sacramento, in 1883, entitled “ Injurious Insects of the Orchard, Vineyard," etc. It was prepared by Matthew Cook, State Entomologist, was liberally illustrated, and stills holds the field as the best California book of the kind yet produced.
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CHAPTER XXXII.
BOTANY .- Prof. McClatchie's Researches, Collections and Discovery of New Species of Plants, including Algæ, Fungi and Mosses, in Pasadenaland .- Complete List of all our Native Vegetable Growths, Scientifically Classified as to Branch of Vegetable Kingdom, Class, Order, Genera and Species.
FLORA OF PASADENA AND VICINITY.
By ALFRED JAMES MCCLATCHIE, A. M., Professor of Botany, Throop Polytechnic Institute.
The list of plants that follows was compiled, not because it was sup- posed that all of the plants growing about Pasadena were known, but be- cause of the kind and urgent request made by Dr. Reid that I should undertake the task. Our flora is too varied for one person to become familiar with it during a three years' residence. The list simply includes all that have been collected and identified up to the time of going to press ; but each month adds several to the list, and will, undoubtedly, continue to do so for some time yet.
The region of which the plants are listed extends from the Lincoln Park hills on the south to the summit of the range north of Pasadena, designated by various names, but referred to in this list as the San Gabriel mountains. On the west the region is bounded by the bills across the Arroyo Seco and extends from there eastward to Sierra Madre and Santa Anita. Thus it is about ten miles in extent north and south, and about six miles east and west. The altitude at the southern limit is about 500 feet, while the summit of the mountains varies from 5,000 to 6,000 feet. The altitudes at the eastern and western boundaries are about the same. Hence the region might be thought of in a general way as a surface having a parabolic curve, one end resting against a range of low hills and the other resting upon a support ten miles away and a mile higher. The western edge of the region is traversed by the Arroyo Seco, whose precipitous banks average about fifty feet in height. At the bottom flows a swift stream, not- withstanding the fact that the naine is the Spanish for " dry gorge." About a mile south of Pasadena is the lip of the geological basin that has been filled with soil for a site for our city. From this lip flow six nearly parallel streams, each about one-fourth to one-half mile from the next. Along these streams grow luxuriant forests of oak, sycamore, cottonwood, and alder, among which great numbers of higher fungi flourish during the wet season, and their waters abound in algæ and other water plants. To this region Dr. Reid and Mr. French have given the name Glacial Terrace. [See page 574.]
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