ANALYTICAL TABLE OF THE HIGHER GROUPS. 
F. GALLINiH. Bill generally short, stout, convex, with an obtuse 
vaulted tip, corneous except in the nasal fossa, and without constriction in 
its continuity. Nostrils scaled or feathered. Tomia of upper mandible over- 
lapping. Frontal feathers forming re-entrant outline at the base of upper 
mandible. Legs usually feathered to the tarsus or beyond. Hallux ele- 
vated, with few exceptions (e. g. Cracidce and Megapodidce ), smaller than the 
anterior toes, occasionally wanting (as in the Hemipods). Tarsus, when not 
feathered, generally broadly scutellate. Front toes commonly webbed at 
base. Claws blunt, little curved. Wings strong, short, and concavo-convex. 
Rectrices commonly more than twelve. Head small. Plumage usually 
after-shafted. Carotids double (except Turnicidce and Megapodidce). No 
intrinsic syringeal muscles. Sternum very deeply, generally doubly, notched. 
Palate schizognathous. Chiefly polygamous. Prsecocial and ptilopasdic. 
G. LIMICOL-ZE. Tibiae bare of feathers for a variable (sometimes very 
slight) distance above the suffrago. Legs commonly lengthened, some- 
times excessively so, and neck usually produced in corresponding ratio. 
Tarsi scutellate or reticulate. Toes never coherent at base ; cleft, or united 
for a short distance by one or two small movable basal webs (palmate only 
in Recurvirostra , lobate only in Phctlaropodidce ). Hallux always reduced, 
obviously elevated and free, or wanting ; giving a foot of cursorial char- 
acter. Wings, with few exceptions, lengthened, pointed, and flat; the inner 
primaries and outer secondaries very short, forming a strong re-entrance on 
the posterior border of the wing. Tail shorter than the wing, of simple 
form, and of few feathers, except in certain Snipes. Head globose, sloping 
rapidly down to the contracted base of the bill, completely feathered (except 
Philomachus £). Gape of bill short and constricted; tip usually obtuse; 
bill weak and flexible. Rostrum commonly lengthened, and more or less 
terete and slender ; membranous wholly or in great part, without hard cut- 
ting edges. Nostrils narrow, placed low down, entirely surrounded with 
soft skin ; nasal fossae extensive. Palate schizognathous. Sternum usually 
doubly, sometimes singly, notched. Carotids double. Pterylosis of a par- 
ticular pattern. Nature praecocial and ptilopaedic. Comprising the “ Plover- 
Snipe” group; species of medium and small size, with never extremely 
compressed or depressed body ; more or less aquatic, living on plains and 
in open places, usually near water, nesting on the ground, where the young 
run freely at birth. 
H. HERODIONES. Tibiae naked below. Legs and neck much length- 
ened in corresponding ratio. Toes long, slender, never coherent at base, 
where cleft, or with movable basal webbing. Hallux (as compared with 
that of the preceding and following group) lengthened, free, and either per- 
fectly incumbent or but little elevated, with a large claw, giving a foot of in- 
sessorial character. Wings commonly obtuse, but broad and ample, without 
marked re-entrance on posterior border, the intermediate remiges not being 
much abbreviated. Tail short and few-feathered. Head narrow, conico- 
elongated, gradually contracting to the large, stout base of the bill ; the 
loral and orbital region, or the whole head, naked. Gape of the bill deeply 
fissured ; tip usually acute ; tomia hard and cutting. Bill conico-elongate, 
always longer than the head, stout and firm. Nostrils small, placed high 
up, with entirely bony and horny, or only slightly membranous, surround- 
ings. Pterylosis nearly peculiar in the presence, almost throughout the 
group, of powder-down tracts, rarely found elsewhere ; pterylse very narrow. 
Palate desmognathous. Carotids double. Altricial. Comprising the Herons, 
