CLASSIFICATION OF 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 ; hind toe, when present, with a lobe or flap ; 

 bill without toothlike projections ; tail very short, and 

 sometimes apparently wanting. 



FAMILY l.Podicipidce. Grebes; 6 species. 

 FAMILY 2. Urinatoridce. Loons; 5 species. 

 FAMILY 3. Alcidce. Auks, Murres, and Puffins ; 22 

 species. 



ORDER II. L.ONGIPENNES (LONG-WINGED 

 SWIMMERS). 



Birds with sharply pointed and frequently hooked or 

 hawklike bills ; toes four (except in the genus Rissd), 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. Rynchopidce. Skimmers; 1 species. 



ORDER III. TUBIN ARES (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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