Bill proportionately narrower than in the River or Bay Ducks; gutters on its sides less developed; scales on front of tarsus rounded.

(Geese. Subfamily _Anserinae_.)

Large, usually white birds, with bare eye s.p.a.ce. (Swans. Subfamily _Cygninae_.)

Order VI. Flamingoes. ODONTOGLOSS?.

(1 family, 1 species.)

Bright red or pink and white birds, standing four feet or more in height; side of the bill with gutters, its end bent downward; wings rather short; legs long; feet webbed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AMERICAN FLAMINGO.]

Family 16. FLAMINGOES. Ph?nicopteridae.

Characters of the Family similar to those of the Order.

Order VII. Herons, Bitterns, Ibises, and Spoonbills. HERODIONES.

(4 families, 19 species, 3 subspecies.)

Long-legged wading birds, generally found along sh.o.r.es or on muddy flats; bill variable; in the Herons straight and sharply pointed; in the Ibises, slender, rounded, and curved downward; in the Spoonbill, flattened: wings rounded; tail short; legs long; toes all on same level, long, slender, without webs. Herons and Bitterns fly with a fold in the neck, the head being drawn in; Ibises and Spoonbills fly with the neck straight, the head being extended.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROSEATE SPOONBILL.]

Family 17. SPOONBILLS. Plataleidae.

Bill flattened and much broadened at the end; crown and face bare in adults; toes partly webbed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WHITE-FACED GLOSSY IBIS.]

Family 18. IBISES. Ibididae.

Bill long and curved down; its side with grooves; toes partly webbed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WOOD IBIS.]

Family 19. STORKS AND WOOD IBISES. CICONIID?.

Bill stout, without grooves; tarsus reticulate.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GREEN HERON.]

Family 20. HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS. Ardeidae.

Bill usually straight and sharply pointed; lores naked; head feathered; tarsus with transverse scales; middle toe-nail pectinate or with a comblike edge.

Order VIII. Cranes, Rails, Coots, Gallinules, Etc. PALUDICOL?.

(3 families, 16 species, 3 subspecies.)

Birds varying greatly in size and appearance, but all agreeing (and differing from _Herodiones_) in having the hind-toe elevated, that is, leaving the foot at a higher level than the front toes; tail short; legs usually long. All fly with the neck extended, a fact by which Cranes in flight may be known from Herons. Rails are short-winged skulkers in gra.s.sy marshes; Gallinules frequent reedy sh.o.r.es; Coots, which alone of the Order have webbed (lobate) toes, are as aquatic as Ducks, from which they may be known by their pointed, white bill, nodding motion of the head when swimming, and habit of pattering over the water when alarmed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SANDHILL CRANE.]

Family 21. CRANES. Gruidae.

Large birds over three feet in length; head partly bare in adults.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LIMPKIN.]

Family 22. COURLANS. Aramidae.

Bill long and slender; head wholly feathered; toes not webbed.

[Ill.u.s.tration: SORA.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: CLAPPER RAIL.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: AMERICAN COOT.]

Family 23. RAILS, COOTS, AND GALLINULES. Rallidae.

Bill variable; toes always long, webbed (lobed) in only one species; wings short and rounded; tail short.

Order IX. Snipes, Sandpipers, Curlews, Plovers, Etc. LIMICOL?.