Alfred Newton

“ These birds fly to a great distance from land and seem to be attracted by ships, frequently hovering round or even settling on the mast-head. Their flight is performed by rapid strokes, unlike the action of other long-winged sea-fowl, and they are rarely seen on the water. ”

“ The young are beautifully barred above with black arrow-headed markings. This species has not been known to occur in the Atlantic, but is perhaps the most numerous in the Indian and Pacific oceans, in which last great value used to be attached to its tail-feathers to be worked into ornaments. [3]
That the tropic-birds form a distinct family, Phaethontidae, of the Steganopodes (the Dysporomorphae of Huxley) , was originally maintained by Brandt, and is now generally admitted, yet it cannot be denied that they differ a good deal from the other members of the group [4] ”