Tribe TOTiPALMI. 1 
Ch. — Bill long, rather broad at the base ; tip hooked and acute, the edges not serrated. Nostriis either wanting or hardly 
perceptible. Wings rather long ; tarsi short and stout. Toes long and all joined together by broad webs. Face and throat 
generally naked, the latter capable of being' more or less extended in the form of a membranous sac or pouch. 
Four families, the diagnostic characters of which are given below, are comprised in this 
strongly marked tribe, all well represented in North America. The arrangement of these 
families, and of their sub-divisions as here adopted, is a little different from that of Bonaparte, 
given on page 818. 
1. Pelecanidae. — Head crested; bill long, much depressed; tip hooked and acute; nostrils 
scarcely perceptible ; sub-maxillary pouch capable of very great extension ; tail short and 
rounded. 
2. Sulidae. — Head without crest ; bill moderate in length, stout, straight, compressed on the 
sides, decurved at point, but not hooked ; nostrils indistinct ; gular sac very small ; tail rather 
long and wedge-shaped. 
3. Tachypetidae. — Head crested ; bill long, rather slender, strong, much curved at the point, 
and very acute ; nostrils quite small ; gular sac rather extensive ; tail very long and deeply 
forked ; tarsi partly feathered. 
4. Phalacrocoracidae. — Head generally with crests; bill moderate, rather slender, unguis 
much curved ; nostrils in the adult obliterated ; gular sac moderate ; tail graduated, of moderate 
length, with the shafts very strong. 
1 Prepared by Mr. George N. Lawrence, of New York. 
