The stations sending most specimens were the Tuskar, Rockabill,
and Mine Head; but they were also received from eleven others. The
rarities received were numerous. Mr Thomas Fortune sent the second
Irish specimen of the Wryneck from Arran Island, N., Co. Galway, killed
striking at 2 A.M. on October 6th. The first specimen was shot at
Dunmore, Co. Waterford, October 5th, 1877. From Mr Francis Ryan, of
the Tearaght, Co. Kerry, only four wings and legs were received; but
two of these proved rarities, one belonging to the Pied Flycatcher,
caught at lantern September 21st, and the other to the Reed Warbler,
found dead October 4th. Both species had only once before been recorded
from Ireland. The Pied Flycatcher occurred at Ballina, Co. Mayo, in
April 1875. The Reed Warbler is said to have been shot near Dublin
on December 21st, 1843, but no specimen exists. Another leg and wing
of the Pied Flycatcher, killed striking October 5th, was sent by Mr
George Dunleavy from the Fastnet, Co. Cork. From Coningbeg light-ship,
Co. Wexford, a leg and wing of the Reed Warbler was forwarded by Mr
Patrick Cullen and Mr William Clydesdale. It was killed striking
October 4th, the same date as the Tearaght specimen.
These three species--Wryneck, Pied Flycatcher, and Reed Warbler--are
examples of birds which breed in Great Britain, and have only been
met with in Ireland during the autumnal migration, except the Pied
Flycatcher, which once occurred in April. All the birds were observed
on the south or west coasts.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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