From the Reise der österreichischen Fregatte Novara [...] Zoologischer Theil, 1. Band: Wirbelthiere, A. Pelzeln, "Vögel": "Baron Wüllerstorf shot a female of this tern in November at Crater Bay on St Paul's Island. Eyes black, beak scarlet red, legs yellowish-red, a little paler on webbed toes and nails, with a central horn-brown nail at the end. Total length 13 1/2‘, wingspan 2’ 3’. Another female was knocked down from the nest on a rugged basalt cliff in the same month. Most of the nests of these birds are found in the small caves of the steep basalt cliffs on the coast and in the crater. One egg was recovered by Mr v. Frauenfeld. In addition to the two females mentioned above, three males and one bird with no indication of sex were preserved in the bell. Some specimens were preserved in alcohol. Zlbr. [Zelebor]. A male and, to a greater extent, a female show white spots on the top of the head and also on the throat, on the lower part of the neck and on the sides of the head the gray color is more or less mixed with white; they are probably younger birds. The egg of this tern (Plate VI, Fig. 14) is gray-brown, with larger and smaller, round, often elongated and angular spots of dark brown color, which are placed closer to the blunt end. The length of the egg is 1'' 8''', the width 13''' [...] (pp. 152-153).