THE PRINCIPAL BIRD GROUPS 63 



and other vegetation. This order contains about 

 one hundred species. 



Our next order, the Pelargiformes, is by no 

 means such a homogenous one as those that 

 precede it. It includes the Herons, the Storks, 

 the Spoonbills, and the Ibises, each of which 

 may be again divided into a sub-order or at 

 least a family, some of the latter yet separable 

 into various sub-families. These are all long- 

 legged birds, and most possess a sufficient family 

 likeness to render their identification with the 

 group fairly easy. Their long wings, long necks, 

 and long spear-shaped bill (except in the Spoon- 

 bills, in which it is spatulate, and in the Ibises, 

 in which it is arched and slender like that of 

 a Curlew) are also other characters which are 

 common to the order. It is impossible here, 

 with the very limited space at our disposal, to 

 enter into any detailed description of the 

 numerous sections into which the Herons may 

 be divided. All we can do is briefly to enume- 

 rate the most striking. First we have the Herons 

 proper, of which our own British species may 

 be taken as typical ; then come the smaller 

 Herons, the graceful Egrets, the Night Herons, 

 the Bitterns, and Little Bitterns, and lastly that 

 somewhat aberrant and highly curious form the 



