CLASSIFICATION OP THE BIRDS OF NORTH 

 AMERICA.* 



ORDER I.— PYGOPODES (DIVING BIRDS). 



Ducklike birds, with generally sharply pointed bills; 

 feet webbed, placed far back near the tail ; tarsus much 

 flattened ; ijind toe, when pi-esent, with a lobe or flap ; 

 bill without toothlike projections ; tail very short, and 

 sometimes apparently wanting. 



Family 1. — Podicipidoi. Grebes; 6 species. 

 Family 2. — Urinatoridce. Loons; 5 species. 

 Family 3. — Alcidce. Auks, Murres, and PuiRns ; 22 

 species. 



ORDER II.— liONGIPENNES (LiONG-WINGED 

 SWIMMERS), 



Birds with sharply pointed and frequently hooked or 

 hawklike bills; toes four (except in the genus Rissa), the 

 front ones webbed: wings long and pointed. 



Family 4. — Stercorariidce. Skuas and Jaegers; 4 spe- 

 cies. 

 Family 5. — Laridce. Gulls and Terns; 43 species. 

 Family 6.—Rynchopidm. Skimmers; 1 species. 



ORDER III.— TUBINARES (TUBE-NOSED 

 SWIMMERS). 



Bill hawklike, the tip of the upper mandible generally 

 much enlarged ; nostrils opening through tubes ; hind toe 



* The arrangement and nomenclature here given is based on the 

 American Ornithologist Union's Check-List, 2d edition, 1895. 



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