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>
    <pages>
      <page pageid="23" ns="0" title="Eastland Boot Company" />
      <page pageid="92" ns="0" title="Oak Street Bootmakers" />
      <page pageid="16" ns="0" title="Rancourt and Company" />
      <page pageid="146" ns="0" title="Rancourt and Company/Opinion" />
      <page pageid="130" ns="0" title="Raw Jeans" />
      <page pageid="31" ns="0" title="Red Wing Shoes" />
      <page pageid="20" ns="0" title="Rick Owens" />
    </pages>
  </query>
</api>