$14: Botany of Mariposa. _ [Zoe 4 
ground, from four to even fifty feet. The materials used are prickly or 
viscid. The fruit and leaves of some of the members of the Borage 
family have the preference, together with the leaves and down of 
species of Gnaphalium, all being bound together by spiders’ web; 
the interior of the nest is thinly lined with bits of wool, hair, and 
down. When completed the nest is fragile, and not sufficient to sup- 
port the rapidly growing young, and if not placed on a good sup- 4 
port, is very liable to give way, and endanger its inmates to the per- 
ils of a fall. “4 
The eggs are two (frequently), three (usually), or four (rarely), 
innumber. The mates take turns in the act of incubation, The - 
young are abundantly fed on the berries of Rhamnus crocea, Rhus 
Jaurina, and near to and within the coniferous belt upon the fruit of 
Rhamnus Californica. When disturbed the young birds disgorge 
the ingesta. The food of the adults consists of berries and insects, 
and they are beneficial rather than injurious about orchards. 
MARIPOSA COUNTY AS A BOTANICAL DISTRICT. 
IV. 
BY J. W. CONGDON. 
THE SUBALPINE REGION. 
We have now reached that portion of our county which forms in 
summer by far its most pleasant and beautiful region. It consists of 
several uneven plateaus lying between the higher ridges of the 
mountains and also includes the tops of the lower ridges. While 
the sides of the mountains up to the limit of tree growth and much 
of the more level ground are covered with heavy timber, there are, 
along the water courses, many large open natural meadows where 
the luxuriant grass, mingled with numberless flowers of varied and 
beautiful hues, form in this State almost our only representatives of 
the luxuriant meadows of the east. 
The altitude of this region varies from 4,000 to 8,500 feet, thus 
including all the lower and wooded mountains, and it extends up the 
higher ones to the upper limit of trees, which is usually about 8,000 
feet or alittle more. 
