XXVI. 



I Toes 2 in front and 2 behind. ^- Cuculidae. Cuckoos. 



ri. ,1 toes in front and one behind. i. Alcedinidae. Kingfishers. 



Ordkk 5- PSITTACr. Parrots. 



The Carolina Paroquet lias been extinct in tlie state for more than twenty years. 



i6i. Carolina Paroquet. 



Order 6. RAPTORES. Vultures, Hawks, Eagles, Owls, etc. 

 To this order belong the birds which eat flesh. Their feet and bills, are adapted for catching 

 and holding the prey, and tearing it into morsels. The vultures have bare heads because they feed 

 upon carrion. The whole group is of so great importance as a balancer of the forces of nature m 

 the animal realm that about half of them are night prowlers; thus, both the diurnal and the noc- 

 turnal disturbers of fields and gardens are held in check by the flesh-eaters. Only four of the 

 species wnich are found in Ohio are harmful to poultry interests. 



I.. Eyes looking straight forward, set in a striking disk of 

 feathers. 

 .-\. Feathers on back of tarsus growing up. i. Strigidae. Barn Owl. 



B. Feathers on back of tarsus growing down. 2. Bubonidae. Horned and HooT 



Owls. 



II. Eyes not looking forward, no facial disk. 

 .'\. Head bare. 4- Cathar'iidae. Vultures. 



B. Head feathered. ,3. Falconidae. Hawks, Eagles, Fal- 



cons, ETC. 



Order 7. COEUMB^. Doves and Pigeons. 

 To this order belongs the single family Columbae. The Mourning Dove is the only repre- 

 sentative of the order now regularly found in the state. 



Order 8. GALLING. Turkeys, Grouse, Bob-white. 



The best representatives of this group are the barn-yard fowls and domestic turkey. They are 

 heavy bodied, short winged birds, which are able to get up from the ground suddenly and fly short 

 distances with great velocity. Their food consists of both vegetable and animal matter in about 

 the proportions of the domestic members of the group. 



I .Size very large — about 4 feet long. i. MelEagrinae. Turkeys. 



n. Size smaller — less (ban 2 feet long. 2. Tetraonidae. Grouse, Bob-white. 



Order 9. P.\LUDICOL.E. Cranes, Rails, Coots, Gallinules. 



To this diverse group belong the smaller swamp-haunting birds. Only the cranes can .be called 

 true waders, living in the more open -water, or even in fields away from water; the others are 

 rather sedge haunters, runnins over the swamp vegetation rather than wading. They feed largely 

 upon swamp animal life. 



I. Tarsus over six inches. 2. Gruidae. Cranes. 



II. Tarsus under ,3.00 inches. i. Rallidae. Rails, Coots, Gallinl'i.ic. 



Order id. HERODIONES. Herons, Egrets, Bitterns, etc. 



The members of this group are preeminently waders, their long legs and long neck enabling 

 ihem to fish standing in the water. They eat almost any animals which may be found in the swamps 

 ;ind shallow water. They are awkward-appearing birds, but fly well, usually stretching the long legs 

 straight out behind like a rudder when flying. 



I. Bill straight and sharp. i. Ardeidae. BirrERNS, Herons, Egrets. 



II. Bill curved downward, blunl. 



A. Wing over 16.00 inches. 2. Ciconiidae. Wood Ibis. 



B. Wing under 13.00 inches. ,3. TbididaE. Ibises. 



Order ii. LIMICOL^. Shore Birds. 

 While the birds comprising this group have been called waders they are not so much so as the 

 Herodiones. Many species live more on the uplands than in or near the water, but some are true 

 waders in shallow water. Some probe in the soft mud, some glean from the surface of the ground, 

 some glean at the water's edge, some search under stones and drift for their food. While none 

 can be called singers in the proper sense, yet some have calls which are certainly more musical than 

 the cries of the Crow or Crackles, which belong to the Oscines. All are nimble of foot and wing. 

 Many flock while migraling. the whole flock moving and turning as one bird. 



