2 
KEY TO FAMILIES OF WATER BIRDS 
3'. Bill without soft swollen skin around nostrils. 
4. Toes always three in front, middle and outer ones never connected 
for half their length ; feet strong. 
Passeres : Perching Birds, p. 110. 
4'. Toes two or three in front; if three, middle and outer connected 
for at least half their length, or feet small and weak. 
5. Bill needle-like, or short, with wide gape . Macrochires : 
Goatsuckers, Swifts, and Hummingbirds, p. 110, 
5 . Bill not needle-like nor with wide gape. 
6. Tail feathers stiff and pointed. 
Pici: Woodpeckers, p. 110. 
6'. Tail feathers soft, with normal tips .... Coccyges : 
Cuckoos, Trogons, and Kingfishers, p. 109. 
KEY TO FAMILIES OF WATER BIRDS. 
ORDER PYGOPODES: DIVING BIRDS. 
