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="Category" />
  </query-continue>
  <query>
    <pages>
      <page ns="0" title="Basil Prescott" missing="" />
      <page pageid="1475" ns="0" title="Basic XML Writer" />
      <page pageid="1401" ns="0" title="Best Use" />
      <page pageid="1484" ns="0" title="Broadcast Messages" />
      <page pageid="1982" ns="0" title="Calculate Column Aggregate" />
      <page pageid="3540" ns="0" title="Calculate Column Aggregatez" />
      <page pageid="1418" ns="0" title="Calling On Demand Tasks" />
      <page pageid="1497" ns="0" title="Call Native Program" />
      <page pageid="3010" ns="0" title="Catch Up Policy" />
      <page pageid="1404" ns="0" title="Categories" />
    </pages>
  </query>
</api>