340 LIFE HISTORIES OP NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



129. Otocoris alpestris giraudi Henshaw. 



TEXAN HORNED LARK. 



OtoconjH alpestris giraudi Henshaw, Auk, I, July, 1884, 266. 



(B — , C — , E — , C — U -ITM.) 



Geographical range : Coast regious of southern Texas. 



The breeding range of the Texan Horned Lark is coextensive with its geo- 

 graphical distribution in the United States. It seeins to be found along the entire 

 coast line of Texas, breeding from. Galveston to Point Isabel, near the mouth 

 of the Rio Grande. Its range does not appear to extend very far inland, and it 

 is probably a resident throughout the year; still this is not certain, as there are, 

 so far as I am aware, no winter specimens taken in the United States in any of 

 our lai-ger ornithological collections. 



Mr. W. E. Grover, of Galveston, writes: "The Texan Horned Lark is 

 locally known here as 'Chippie' and 'Road Chippie,' as it is essentially a grtiund 

 bird. It frequents the level, grassy prairies along the Gulf shore, and may 

 frequently be observed in the wagon roads; hence its local name. I do not 

 know how early it arrives in this vicinity; I noticed a few on April 1, and by 

 May they are abundant. The nest is built in a saucer-shaped hole scratched 

 out by the birds, and here it is nearly always placed alongside of bunches of 

 wild chamomile (Matricaria coronata) growing close to the road; it is con- 

 structed of ch'y prairie grass and lined with thistle down. The top of the nest 

 is even with the surrounding ground." 



All the nests of the Texan Horned Lark I have seen are much more sub- 

 stantially built than any of the balance of the subspecies breeding within the 

 United States. The United States National Museum is indebted to Mr. H. P. 

 Attwater for several of their nests and eggs — in fact, for all that are in the 

 collection at present. One of these nests, containing three eggs, on the point 

 of hatching when found on April 23, 1892, is an unusually bulky one. It was 

 placed in a pile of dry cow droj^pings near the shore of Aransas Bay. The 

 outer walls are chiefly constructed of salt-cedar twigs (MonantJiochloe liitoralis), 

 and the lining consists of dry sea moss picked up on the shore. It measures 

 6 inches in outer diameter by 2^ inches in height. The inner cup is 3 inches in 

 width by 2 inches in depth. An average nest from the same locality, taken May 

 23, 1892, containing four eggs in which incubation had commenced, measures 

 about 4 inches in outer diameter by If in height; the inner cup is about 2^ 

 inches in width by 1 .] inches in depth. Externally it is also composed of small 

 twigs of salt cedar and coarse dry grass, and it is sparingly lined A\itli blades 

 of dry grass, and a few feathers. 



Mr. Attwater writes me under date of March 20, 1893: "Quite a number of 

 Texan Horned Larks here, are still in small flocks; a few, however, seem already 

 to be mated, but I have thus far been unable to locate any of their nests." 



