SYNOPSIS OF ORDERS AND FAMILIES. 
AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER. 
Family 29. OYSTER-CATCHERS. HAMATOPODID-. : 
Toes three, webbed at base; tarsus stout, with rounded scales; bill heavy, com- 
‘pressed, and said to be used for opening shells. 
MEXICAN JACANA. 
Family 30. JACANAS. JACANIDA., 
Toes four, with their nails greatly elongated to support the bird while walking on 
aquatic vegetation; wing, with a sharp spur; bill with fleshy lobes at base and, in some 
species, on its sides. 
LAND BIRDS. 
ORDER X. GROUSE, PaRTRIDGES, Bos-WHITES, Etc. GALLINE. 
(3 families, 24 species, 25 subspecies.) 
Ground-inhabiting birds of chicken-like form; bill stout, hen-like; wings 
short and rounded; tail variable; feet strong; hind-toe elevated. Color 
usually mixed brown, black, and buff, or bluish gray. 
25 
