Synopsis of Orders and Families. 



AMERICAN FLAMINGO. 



Family 16. FLAMINGOES. PHOENICOPTERIM. 

 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 shores or on 

 muddy flats; bill variable; in the Herons straight and sharply pointed; 

 in the Ibises, slender, rounded, and curved downward; in the Spoon- 

 bill, 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. 



17 



