Zoology in the Middle East, Volume 6. 1992. Edited by 
Ragnar Kinzelbach and Max Kasparek. Heidelberg. DM27. 
This volume contains 12 papers, but only three on birds, all of them in English. 
'Notes on some summer birds of Syria', by Wolfgang Baumgart and Max 
Kasparek will interest all those who visit its rather omithologically better known 
next-door neighbour. While the bulk of the observations were made during a 
sea-turtle survey, even such apparently restricting circumstances allowed time 
for some significant discoveries. Chief among these is that a relict population of 
Lappet-faced Vulture Torgos tracheliotis may persist in the Syrian deserts. 
'On the movements of the Greater Flamingo, Phoenicopterus ruber, in Iran' 
provides an interesting counterpoint to the situation in turkey. Behrouz Behrouzi- 
Rad rather over-simplifies the breeding status in Turkey, but his short analysis 
of the post-breeding wanderings of Iranian birds may have direct parallels for 
Turkey. Two birds ringed in Western Europe were recently observed at Seyfe 
Golii, on Turkey's Central Plateau. 
' On the biometry of birds ringed in Turkey' by Eyckerman, Louette and Becuwe 
presents data collected as long ago as 1973. The paper includes details of the 
trapping of the first Melodious Warbler Hippolais polyglotta, the record's first 
appearance in English. 
Guy Kirwan 
Around the Region 
Records in Around the Region arepuhlished for in terest only, and their inclusion 
does not imply acceptance by the records committee of the relevant country. To 
submit records for Bulletin 30, covering September 1992 to March 1993, please 
write to: Around the Region, OSME, c/o The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire SG19 
2DL, UK. 
Compiled by Guy Kirwan 
Records refer to single individuals sec 
Bahrain 
Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus Juvenile 
Hamalah farm, 14 February. First 
record for Bahrain. E Hirschfeld 
Corncrake Crex crex Hamalah farm, 1 
May. Rare migrant. E Hirschfeld 
Caspian Plover Charadrius asiaticus 
Small influx, 5 March: five Qurrayah 
and seven Hamalah farm. Three 
in 1993, unless otherwise stated. 
Hamalah farm, 11 March. Scarce, but 
annual, migrant. E Hirschfeld 
Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus 
Male, 2-4 February. Records of males 
distinctly unusual (cf United Arab 
Emirates). E Hirschfeld, R Morris 
Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria 
ASRY, 5 March. Sixth record, most 
