You are looking at the HTML representation of the XML format.
HTML is good for debugging, but is unsuitable for application use.
Specify the format parameter to change the output format.
To see the non HTML representation of the XML format, set format=xml.
See the complete documentation, or API help for more information.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<api>
  <query-continue>
    <alllinks galcontinue="Beginning_dev_checklist|19" />
  </query-continue>
  <query>
    <pages>
      <page pageid="17" ns="0" title="Dev Getting Started" />
      <page pageid="32" ns="0" title="Directory Structure" />
      <page pageid="282" ns="0" title="Development" />
      <page pageid="841" ns="0" title="Common Jargon" />
      <page pageid="1029" ns="0" title="Site schemes" />
      <page pageid="1042" ns="0" title="Dreamwidth Development Handbook" />
      <page pageid="1247" ns="0" title="Routing and Template Toolkit" />
      <page pageid="1597" ns="0" title="Newbie Guide: Getting Started on Windows" />
      <page pageid="1662" ns="0" title="Template Toolkit / Foundation Conversion Guide" />
    </pages>
  </query>
</api>