44 BIEDS. 



P. FAMILIES OF LAMELLIROSTRES. 

 I. Neck and legs moderate; tibise feathered; bill not decurved. 



AUATH)^, 60. 



Q. FAIVIILIES OF STEGANOPODES. 



I. Bill longer than tail; many times longer than head, with the 

 gular pouch enormous ; wings long. . Pblecanid^, 61. 



XL Bill about as long as head, shorter than tail, which is fan- 

 shaped, of rigid feathers; wings short. 



Phaiackocoeacid.*), 63. 



R. FAMILIES OF LONGIPENNES. 



I. Nostrils not tubular, perforate; bill with a continuous covering. 



Larid.<b, 63. 



8. FAMILIES OF PYGOPODES. 



I. Feet palmate; tail developed; head closely feathered. 



COLYMBID^, 64. 



II. Feetlobate; tail imdeveloped ; head usually with naked loral 



strip and peculiar feathers. . . . Podicipid^, 65. 



OEDEE Q.-PASSEEES. 



( Passerine Birds.) 



Toes always 4; feet fitted for perching; the hind toe 

 always on a level with the rest, its claw at least as long 

 as that of middle toe, and often much longer; joints of 

 toes respectively 3, 3, 4, 5, from first to fourth; toes 

 never versatile; wing coverts comparatively few, chiefly 

 in two series. Tail feathers 12, primaries 9 or 10. 

 Musical apparatus more or less developed. Sternum of 

 a certain uniform pattern. Nature altricial. 



This group comprises the great majority of all Birds, 

 and they represent the " highest grade of development, 

 and the most complex organization of the class; their 



