THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 
Mr. A. F. B. Hull,* writing of the birds of Lord Howe and Norfolk Islands, 
says : “ This beautiful little Tern breeds on both groups of islands. At Lord 
Howe it selects crevices and ledges in the precipitous cliffs on the north-eastern 
side of the main island, and similar places in the Admiralty Islets. The nests 
are generally very difficult of access. In the Norfolk group it breeds chiefly 
on Nepean and Phillip Islands, and on the former the nests are comparatively 
easy of access, being placed in crevices of the weathered volcanic rock from 
a few feet to a considerable height from the water-line. Owing to the hori- 
zontal position of the strata, and the weathering having formed sloping 
terraces, the cliffs are not difficult to scale, although the sharp, worn edges and 
points of rock are unpleasant to hands and knees. 
“ The birds do not breed in colonies, but certain spots or localities are 
more favoured than others. The bird is however b}?^ no means common in 
either group.” 
The bird figured and described is a male collected on the Kermadec Islands. 
The exact nomenclature to be used for the forms of Procelsterna is not 
easily fixed. 
The first name to be applied to any is that given by Bennett in the 
Narr. Whaling Voy.y Vol. II., p. 248, 1840, thus : — 
The Blue Noddy or Reef Bird. Sterna cerulea. Plumage light blue or slate colour, 
three quill-feathers of each wing, and two of the tail-feathers dull brown ; a narrow line 
of black, and a second of white plumage on the upper eyelid. Beak and legs black. 
Entire length ten inches ; spread of wings eighteen. 
Inhabits Christmas Island. 
Simultaneously another bird was described by Neboux in the Rev. Zool., 
October, 1840, p. 291, but no Latin name was proposed. It was there 
called “ Sterne cendre ” and confusion was introduced through Gould’s 
action in choosing the same name for a different bird of the same genus 
a few years later. 
In the Rev. Zool., Aofit, 1841, p. 242, Lafresnaye describes Sterna tere- 
tirostris : — 
St. supra brunnescenti-shistacea, alls caudaque nigro-shistaceis, capite coUoque 
cinereis ; fronte lorisque albescentibus ; macula ante et supra oculos nigrescente, alia 
post oculari nivea Subtus tota cinerea, collo, abdomine caudaeque tectricibus inferis 
pallidioribus ; alarum tectrices majores, superae dorso proximae extus albido marginantur ; 
cauda modice emarginata, alioque flexis illam non superantibus. Rostrum tenue rectis- 
simum, tereti aequale, nigrum ; tibiae et tarsi pro moee longiores, digitis elongatis, duobus 
extenis aequalibus, membrana interdigitali fere integra angusta pallida, dlditis nigris. 
Longit tota 23 centim digit extern 3 centim. 
Locality unknown. 
The following year, in the Mag. Zool., 1842, on pi. 29, a figure was given 
and there Lafresnaye proposed the new subgeneric name Procelsterna, but he 
called the bird S. tereticollis. 
* Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W., Vol. XXXIV., p. 656, 1910. 
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