3O0 The Irish Nahiyalist. November, 1903. 



The Aquatic Warbler, a New Irish Bird. 



The following letter was received on September 24th from the Bull 

 Rock Ivighthouse, Co. Cork. 



" Sir, — Enclosed you will find a small bird which struck lantern on 

 20th inst., wind east, hazy. Yours, 



Joseph HigginboTham, Lightkeeper. 



I was away from home when the specimen arrived, but m.y wife, on 

 referring to the text-books, correctly identified the bird as an Aquatic 

 Warbler, Acroccphahis agtiaiicus, and sent it to Mr. Williams for preser- 

 vation. On dissection it proved to be an immature male. This is an 

 addition to the Irish avifauna. Three instances of its occurrence in 

 England are recorded in Saunders' Manual, p. 87, and it is not a little 

 curious to observe that all three were mistaken for Sedge Warblers at 

 first, or, at any rate, were not recognised as Aquatic Warblers for some 

 years. The buff stripe along the centre of the head, with a darker stripe at 

 either side, which is separated again by a brighter stripe from the eye, 

 sufficiently distinguished this bird from its nearest ally, the Sedge 

 Warbler. What a number of Irish ornithological rarities have been 

 recorded from the rocky islets off" our south-west coast ! All of them 

 were obtained by lighthouse keepers. The Yellow-browed Warbler, 

 Lesser White-throat, Lapland Bunting, Aquatic Warbler, and Greenland 

 Redpoll, were new to Ireland — while the Redbreasted Flycatcher, Pied 

 Flycatcher, and Golden Oriole are of very rare occurrence. 



Richard M. Barrington. 



Fassaroe, Bray. 



White Wagtail at Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. 



I saw a male White Wagtail, Motacilla alba, on Saturday, 4th Septem- 

 ber, at the Delvin River, two miles from Balbriggan. Its broad white 

 forehead and grey back first attracted my notice, as it flew about from 

 stone to stone, in the bed of this little river, which is the boundary 

 between the counties of Dublin and Meath. It then flew up on the 

 telegraph wires over the railway viaduct, when I had a good oppor- 

 tunity of noting the diamond-shaped black mark on the throat and 

 breast, and the very long tail. The picture in Morris' "British Birds" 

 very aptly represents the bird as I saw it at the Delvin. I had never seen 

 one in Ireland before, and but once in England, near Clifton suspension 

 bridge. 



Mr. Ussher, in his "Birds of Ireland," has some interesting records of 

 the occurrence of this bird, and Mr. R. M. Barrington, in his " Migration 

 of Birds," notices its occurrence at the Blackwater Bank, and Codling 

 Lightships ; he also received a fine specimen in 1900 from Innistrahull. 



Charlies W Benson. 

 Bedford House, Balbriggan. 



