56 



Order XVI. HERODIONES.* 



Key to tJie Families. 



a. Hind toe on the same plane as the other toes. 

 a'. Culmen rounded or ridged ; bill notched, with 



no dertral hook at the end ; outer toe with 



a broad basal web, obsolete at base of inner 



toe ; powder-down patches present ; loral 



space bare ; middle claw pectinated Ardeidse, p. 56. 



b'. Culmen flattened and grooved, broad at the 



base of the forehead and narrowing 



towards the end, which has a distinct 



dertral hook ; two powder-down patches ; 



lores bare ; no web at the base of the fp. 287. 



inner and outer toe Balsenicipitid39, 



c'. Culmen narrow and ridged, with the nasal 



groove extending the whole length of the 



bill ; a distinct dertral hook at the tip ; 



no powder-down patches ; lores feathered ; 



a distinct web at the base of both inner [p. 288. 



and outer toe, larger on the latter Scopidse, 



b. Hind toe elevated above the plane of the other 



toes ; no powder-down patches ; bill not 



hooked at the tip ; both toes webbed at the 



base, the outer one especially ; no pectination [p. 290. 



on middle claw Ciconiidae, 



Family I. ARDEIDtE. 



Key to the Genera. 

 a. Tail-feathers 12. 



«'. Bare portion of tibio-tarsus equal to or ex- 

 ceeding the length of inner toe and claw. 

 a". Middle toe very long, equal to the 

 tarsus in length ; claw of hallux more 

 than half the length of the hallux 



itself, and only slightly curved 1. Photx, p. 60. 



b". Middle toe shorter, the tarsus longer 

 than the middle toe and claw ; the 

 claw of the hallux always curved and 

 not equal to half of the hallux itself. 

 a^. Edge of mandibles distinctly ser- 

 rated ; a very faintly indicated 

 uotch before the tip of the upper 

 mandible, often obsolete. 

 a*. Head crested, the nape-feathers 

 elongated and ornamented ; 

 plumes of fore-neck long, but not 

 disintegrated; no dorsal train .. 2. Ardea, p. 66, 



For Appendix, see p. 264. 



