101* BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Order HERODIONES.— The Herons, Storks, Ibises, etc. 



Characters. Altricial ptilopasdic Grallatores, with the hallux lengthened and 

 nearly or quite incumbent; palate desmognathous; carotids double; habits more or less 

 arboreal. 



The Order Herodiones includes several distinct gvoups, which 

 may be defined as follows: 



a 1 . Sides of upper mandible with a deep narrow groove extending uninterruptedly 



from the nostrils to the tip Suborder Djides. 



i s . Sides of upper mandible without any groove. 



b 1 . Hind toe inserted above the level of the anterior toes; claws broad and flat, 

 resting on a heavy pad or shoe, the middle one not pectinated. 



Suborder Cicoaiae. 



b 2 . Hind toe inserted on the same level as the anterior toes; claws narrow, 



arched, the under surface free, and the middle one with its inner edge 



pectinated. Suborder Herodii. 



Suborder IBIDES.— The Spoonbills and Ibises. 



Families. 



a 1 . Bill very broad and excessively flattened, greatly widened toward end, only the ex- 

 treme tip decurved Plataleidae. 



«*. Bill slender, nearly cylindrical, or even narrower than deep toward end, gradually 

 but decidedly decurved for nearly whole length Ibididae. 



