No. 6 ] THE AUSTRAL AVIAN RECORD 149 



seems the earliest valid introduction, and it is in connection 

 with a species which has no earlier generic name. We reject 

 Psittaca Jarocki as preoccupied by Psittacus Linne. 



Eider. 



This name also first appeared in the Oken List, Isis, 1817, 

 1183, but was not used in the Amer. Ornith. Union's Check 

 List, 3rd Edition, 1910, p. 79, though Marila, Clangula and 

 Querquedula were, although all were equally valid or invalid. 

 There is not the least excuse for picking and choosing, and 

 we have commented more than once upon the unconsidered 

 action of American ornithologists in their recognition of 

 some of the Oken names. We would be pleased to see the 

 Union revoke their decision, or else justify their action by 

 the recognition of such names as Eider, Moustache, Souchet 

 and Macreuse. In the present case Jarocki absolutely used 

 Eider as a valid name, and it must be considered as of his 

 entry. It then falls as a synonym of Somateria Leach 1819. 

 The reference given in the Amer. Ornith. Union's Check List 

 for this genus name (p. 79) is the same as the one accepted 

 by the British Ornithologists' Union, and appears to be the 

 earliest valid proposal. We note this, as one writer claimed 

 that the name should be quoted from the Annals Philos. 

 (Thomson), 1st Ser., Vol. XIII., p. 61, Jan. 1819, where 

 "Somateria mollissima Cuthbert's Eider" was recorded. This 

 is certainly only a nomen nudum, and an earlier note occurs 

 in the Jo urn. de Physique (Paris), Vol. LXXXVIL, p. 472, 

 Dec. 1818, where Leach listed Somateria mollissima. 



The sequence of publication appears to be as follows : 

 Leach drew up a list of specimens collected on Ross' Voyage, 

 but there was some trouble in the matter. Sabine undertook 

 the nomination of the Gull, while Leach included it in his 

 List. The List was sent to Paris, and appeared first in Dec. 

 1818 in the Journ. de Physique as given above, L. sabini being 

 included as a pure nomen nudum. The same article was 

 sent to the Annals Philosophy (Thomson), and appeared on 

 pp. 60/61, Jan. 1819, still only as nomina nuda, the Gull being 



