Order 1. Diving Birds - Pygopodes

Loons - Family Gaviidop

Larger than Grebes; bill, long, heavy and pointed; tail very short; feet webbed like a duck's, but legs thin and deep; form and habits, grebe-like.

Auks, Murres, Puffins - Family Alcidae

Bills very variable; tail short; usually takes flight when alarmed, instead of diving as do grebes and loons. With the exception of puffins, which stand on their feet, all birds of this order sit upon their whole leg and tail. They are awkward on land; some can hardly walk.

Order 2. Long-Winged Swimmers. - Longipennes

Skuas, Jaegers - Family Stercorariida

Marine birds of prey; bill strongly hooked, with long scaly shield, or cere, at the base; claws strong and curved, hawk-like; flight hawk-like; plumage often entirely sooty-black, and always so on the back.

Gulls, Terns - Famaily Laddae

Gulls have hooked bills, usually yellowish, yellow eyes and pale, webbed feet. Head, underparts ana square tail are white in adults, back, pearl-grey; exceptions are the four small black-headed gulls, which also have reddish legs. Gulls fly with the bill straight in front, and often rest on the water. Terns have forked tails, black caps, and their slender, pointed bills and small webbed feet are usually red. They fly with bill pointed down, and dive upon their prey.

Order 3. Tube-Nosed Swimmers

Tubinares. Fulmars, Shearwaters, Petrels - Famaily Procellariidae

Nostrils opening in a tube on top of the hooked bill. Plumage of fulmars, gull-like; shearwaters entirely sooty black, or white below; petrels blackish, with white rumps, - very small birds. All seabirds.

Order 4. Totipalmate Swimmers

Stegan- Opodes

All four toes joined by webs.

Tropic Birds - Famaily Phaethontidcr

Bill and form tern-like; middle tail feathers very long.

Gannets - Famaily Sulidae

Bill heavy and pointed; face and small throat pouch, bare.

Snake-Birds - Famaily Anhingidae

Bill slender and pointed; neck and tail very long, the latter rounded; habits like those of the following.

Cormorants - Famaily Phalacrocoracidae

Bill slender, but hooked at the tip; plumage glossy black and brown; eyes green. They use their wings, as well as feet, when pursuing fish under water.

Pelicans - Famaily Pelecanidae

Bill very long and with a large pouch suspended below.

Man-O'-War Birds - Famaily Fregatidae

Very long and strongly hooked; tail long and forked; wholly maritime, as are all but the preceding three.

Order 5. Ducks, Geese And Swans

Anseres

Mergansers, with slender, toothed bills, with which to catch the fish they pursue under water.

Other ducks have rather broad bills, more or less resembling those of the domestic duck. Their flight is rapid and direct. River ducks have no web, or flap, on the hind toe; they get their food without going entirely under water, by tipping up. Sea ducks have a broad flap on the hind toe.

Order 6. Flamingoes

Odontoglossae - Family Phoenicopteridae

Large, long-necked, pink birds with a crooked box-like bill, long legs and webbed feet.

Order 7. Herons, Ibises, Etc

Herodiones

Long-legged, wading birds, with all four toes long, slender and without webs. Usually found about the muddy edges of ponds, lakes or creeks, and less often on the sea shore. Wings large and rounded.

Spoonbill - Family Plataleidae

Family PlataleidaeBill long, thin and much broadened at the end; head bare.

Ibises - Family Ibididae

Bill long, slender and curved down. Ibises and Spoonbills fly with the neck fully extended.

Storks - Family Ciconiidae

Bill long, heavy and curved near the end; head and upper neck Dare.

Herons, Bitterns, Egrets - Family Ardei-dae

Bill long, straight and pointed; head usually crested, and back often with plumes. Herons fly with a fold in the neck, and the back of the head resting against the shoulders.

Order 8. Marsh Birds

Paludicolae

Birds of this order, vary greatly in size and appearance ,but all agree in having the hind toe elevated, whereas that of the members of the last order, leaves the foot on a level with the front toes; neck extended in flight.

Cranes - Family Grudidae

Very large and heron-like, but with plumage close feathered; top of head bare; bill long, slender and obtusely pointed.

Courlans - Family Aramidae

Size mid-way between the cranes and rails; bill long and slender.

Rails, Etc - Family Rallidae

Bills are variable, but toes and legs long; wings short; flight slow and wavering; marsh skulkers, hiding in rushes. Gallinules have a frontal shield on the forehead, Coots have lobate-webbed feet; short, whitish bills.

Order 9. Shore Birds

Limicolae

Comparatively small, long legged, slender-billed birds seen running along edges of ponds or beaches.

Phalaropes

Phalaropodidae. - Toes with lobed webs.

Avocets, Stilts

Recurvirostridae: - Avocet, with slender recurved bill, and webbed feet; stilt, with straight bill, very long legs, toes not webbed.

Snipes, Sandpipers, Etc - Family Scolopa-cidae

Bills very variable but slender, and all, except the Woodcock, with long pointed wings; flight usually swift and erratic.

Plovers - Family Charadriidae

Bill short and stout; three toes.

Turnstones - Family Aphrizidae

Bill short, stout and slightly up-turned; four toes.

Oyster-Catchers - Family Hoematopodidae

Bill long, heavy and compressed; legs and toes stout; three toes slightly webbed at base.

Jacanas - Family Jacanidae

Bill with leaf-like shield at the base; legs and toes extremely long and slender; sharp spur on wing.

Order 10. Fowls

Gallinae.

Ground birds of robust form; bill hen-like; wings short and rounded; feet large and strong.

Partridges, Grouse - Family Tetraonidae

Legs bare in the partridges, feathered in grouse.

Turkeys, Pheasants - Famaily Phasianidae

Legs often spurred, or head with wattles, etc.

Guans - Famaily Cracidae

Represented by the Chachalaca of Texas.

Order 11. Pigeons And Doves

Columbae - Family Columbidae

Bill slender, hard at the tip, and with the nostrils opening in a fleshy membrane at the base. Plumage soft grays and browns.

Order 12. Birds Of Prey

Raptores.

Vultures

Cathartidae: - Head bare; feet hen-like.

Hawks, Eagles

Falconidae: - Bill and claws strongly hooked; nostrils in a cere at base of bill.

Barn Owls

Aluconidae: - Black eyes in triangular facial disc; middle toe-nail serrated.

Horned Owls, Etc

Bubonidae: - Facial disc round; some species with ears, others without.