Order 2. TROCHILIFORMES. Hummingbirds. 



Small, non-passerine birds having slender, elongated beaks, not deeply cleft beyond base; largely metallic- 

 lustered, often iridescent plumage; breast-bone enormously developed (for attachment of muscles to vibrate very 

 moderate-sized wings at highest rate of speed); primaries 10; secondaries 6; rectrices 10; feet very small and weak 

 although passerine in function, i. e., the thumb regularly opposed. Pygmy to sparrow (rarely) size. The various 

 parts of the bird are susceptible of superficial modification, especially for ornamental purposes, but in structure the 

 group is very uniform; in fact, the "order" is confessedly a family, exalted by reason of its distinctness and abundance. 

 Eggs two, oval, white; young helpless at birth. American, especially tropically; over 500 species known, with an 

 ever increasing number of "subs." One family, the Trochilidee — 7 species Californian. 



Order 3. CYPSELIFORMES. Swifts. 



Non-passerine birds having mouths deeply cleft, with rictal bristles; bills small, triangular; nostrils exposed; 

 wings long, sharply pointed, always reaching beyond tail; primaries 10; secondaries 7-1 1; rectrices 10; feet relatively 

 small and weak, the four toes all inclining forward, or else the 2nd toe and hallux loosely reversible. Pygmy to little 

 hawk size; loosely or highly gregarious. Eggs 1-6; white, ovate, or elongate ovate; young naked. A fairly homo- 

 geneous, cosmopolitan group of two families (one Californian) and about a hundred species. 



Order 4. PICIFORMES. Woodpecker-like birds, Jacamars, Barbets, Toucans, etc. 



A diverse order of remotely "roller-like" birds, with characters too technical for consideration here. We are 

 interested only in the Picidae (q. v.). 



Order 5. CORACIIFORMES. Roller-like birds, Kingfishers, etc. 



A diverse group of chiefly arboreal birds, having deep-seated structural characters insusceptible of simple defini- 

 tion. We are interested only in the Alcedinida, Kingfishers, (q. v.). 



Order 6. CAPRIMULGIFORMES. Goatsuckers, Nighthawks, Poorvvills, etc. 



[Broadly defined, this order should probably include the suborder Podargi, and possibly Steatornithes. The 

 discussion of these groups, however, would lead us too far afield, and we here characterize the central group, Capri- 

 mulgi, only]. Roller-like birds having soft, lax plumage of protective or self-toned shades; well developed wings 

 with 10 primaries and more than 7 secondaries; 10 rectrices; bill deeply cleft, to or beyond the eye, the horny portion 

 minute, depressed, of triangular outline; the gape (usually) bounded by highly developed bristles; feet weak, the 

 tarsus shortened, partially feathered; the hind toe slightly elevated and turned to the side; the anterior toes connected 

 basally by webs; the 4th toe usually having only 4 joints, the middle toe elongated and usually pectinated. Towhee 

 to crow size. Chiefly migratory in temperate zones. Eggs 2; white or marked; laid on ground without nest. 



Order 7. STRIGES. Owls. 



Chiefly nocturnal birds of prey, having chiefly upright carriage and near-cylindrical form and many highly 

 developed modifications adapted to their mode of life. These include softened, nearly noiseless plumage, highly 

 neutralized or self-toned color-pattern, chiefly browns; a facial disc causing convergence of light upon the ej'e; a 

 short highly convex and hooked beak, sheathed at base by a cere; and feet and tarsi fully feathered; the fourth toe 

 reversible or movable through an angle of nearly 180 degrees. Warbler to brant size. A singularly homogeneous 

 and cosmopolitan group, necessarily solitary in habit. Eggs 2-8; rounded; white; young altricial, covered at first 

 with heavy whitish down. Two families, both Californian, of perhaps 300 species. 



I. Facial disc rounded triangular; inner toe equal to middle. Fam. I. Tytonid^. 



II. Facial disc circular; inner toe shorter than middle toe. Fam. 2. Strigid.'e. 



Order 8. COCCYGES. Cuckoos. 



Terrestrial or arboreal birds, chiefly of normal or slender proportions (or else highly specialized in mimetic pat- 

 tern), and having bills neither woodpecker-like nor parrot-like, and so distinguished by zygodactylous feet, i. e., two 

 toes (2nd and 3rd) in front, and two (1st and 4th) behind. The reversion of the 4th toe is, moreover, permanent 

 and not changeable, as in owls and woodpeckers. Sparrow to crow size; chiefly solitary, but occasionally communal. 

 Nidification normal, parasitic or communal. In the first-named case eggs white or nearly so; pattern of parasitic 

 eggs highly varied, chiefly to agree with those of host species. Young altricial, but also relatively precocious. Cos- 

 mopolitan. One family. 



Order 9. COLUMBIFORMES. Doves and Pigeons. 



Tree- or ground-haunting birds of normal proportions, having well developed, chiefly lengthened and flattened 

 wings (in the living forms, which alone are considered here), with 11 primaries; feet with 4 toes; the hallux on the 

 same level as the others, hence adapted for perching; tarsus shortened, usually shorter than the toes; bill (usually 

 relatively small and slender, often weak and partially constricted mesially) horny, convex and somewhat enlarged 

 at tip; at the base a tumid membrane in which the (usually slit-like) nostrils appear. Sparrow to gull size (Gouritus); 

 mildly to highly gregarious; migratory at extremes of range. Eggs 1 or 2; white or nearly so; young altricial. Cos- 

 mopolitan, especially abundant in the Australian region. Five or six families, of which one Californian. 



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