Least Auklet

SCI Name:  Aethia pusilla
Protonym:  Uria pusilla Zoogr.Rosso-Asiat. 2 p.373
Taxonomy:  Charadriiformes / Alcidae / Aethia
Taxonomy Code:  leaauk
Type Locality:  Kamchatka.
Author:  Pallas
Publish Year:  1811
IUCN Status:  Least Concern

DEFINITIONS

AETHIA
(Alcidae; Ϯ Crested Auklet A. cristatella) Gr. αιθυια aithuia unidentified diving seabird mentioned by Aristotle, Hesychius, and other authors; in modern times associated with a variety of seabirds, including a shearwater, a cormorant, an auk, and a duck ("Ce nom est employé par quelques naturalistes pour désigne les plongeons, autrement appelés mergi et uriae" (Dumont de Sainte-Croix in Levrault 1816)); "Rostrum ascendens; apicibus utriusque mandibulae, minime sursum flexae, sed ascendentis, altioribus oris angulis—Aethia Tetracula.   ...   Crista revoluta; pennis cristae in basi erectis, inde rostrum versus valde incurvis—Aethia Cristatella.   ...   Alae brevissimae; initium caudae attigentes, nec ultra tendentes—Aethia Cristatella." (Merrem 1788 per Hartert 1916); "Aethia B. MERREM,²   ...   ² I have not seen Merrem's work, which seems to be little known.  Doctor Hartert says the German edition has only vernacular names, hence the name Aethia should, perhaps, have been credited to the Latin edition, "Primae lineae ornithologiae," of which there were two parts, published in 1787-88." (Richmonmd 1927); "Aethia Merrem, 1788, Vers. Grundr. Allg. Ges. Nat. Eintheil. Vögel, 1, Tentamen Nat. Syst. Avium, pp. 7, 13, 20. Type, by monotypy, Alca cristatella Pallas." (AOU Check-list, 6th ed., 1983, p. 246). 
Synon. Alcella, Ciceronia, Simorhynchus, Tyloramphus.

pusilla
L. pusillus  very little, very small  < dim. pusus  little boy  < puer  boy.
● ex “Cinclus dominicensis minor” of Brisson 1760 (Calidris).
● ex “Small Nuthatch” of Catesby 1731, “Petit Torchepot de la Caroline” of Brisson 1760, and “Petite Sittelle à tête brune” of de Buffon 1770-1783 (Sitta).
● ex “Little Sparrow” of Catesby 1731 (Spizella).
● "59. CERTHIA.  ...  pusilla.  2. C. supra grisea, subtus alba, rectricibus fuscis: extimis apice albis.  Certhia fusca minor. Edw. av. 26. l. 26.  Habitat in India." (Linnaeus 1758) (unident.; nom. dub.).