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WHITE WAGTAIL (MOTACILLA ALBA) IN 
IRELAND. 
By RosBert WARREN. 
So very little was known of this Wagtail in Ireland, that 
William Thompson had never met an Irish specimen, and he 
thus speaks of it in his work on the ‘ Birds of Ireland’:—‘ Is 
believed to be at least an occasional visitant. It is included on 
the following testimony. In a letter to me from Mr. R. Ball, 
dated Dublin, June 19th, 1846, it was stated that a few days 
before, when at Roundwood, he had seen a specimen of the true 
M. alba, as distinguished from M. yarrellit. He remarked :—‘ We 
watched it for some time, though at a short distance from us, 
with a small telescope used for such purposes; its beautiful 
plumage was very distinct from that of the common species, and 
its habit much more sedate than usual with Wagtails; “it wagged ” 
but little, and walked about demurely. I am sure that I have 
often seen the species before. As the bird was not obtained, its 
occurrence would not be inserted here without my perfect 
reliance on the knowledge and acute observation of my 
informant.” 
Such was all the meagre information that was obtained by 
Mr. Thompson of this bird in Ireland, and nothing more was 
heard of the species until April 25th, 1851, on which day I had 
the good fortune of shooting, on the island of Bartragh, the first 
authentic specimen known to have been obtained in Ireland. I 
met the bird in a field where some men were sowing barley, and as 
it followed the harrows, picking up insects. My attention was 
attracted by its quiet demeanour and light grey plumage, so 
different from that of our native Wagtails, and after observing it 
for some time it occurred to me that it might be the rare 
M. alba, so, drawing the larger shot from my gun that I had for 
Rabbits, I put in a charge of No. 8, and knocked the bird over 
at the first shot. On picking up and examining it, I felt 
