The Survey of zvaterbirds in Egyptian zvetlands published by WIWO in 1982 is 
now unavailable. Any serious student of Middle Eastern ornithology or any- 
one concerned by the crisis affecting the Mediterranean ecosystem should 
order their copy of this new report now. 
Derek J. Evans 
Zoology in the Middle East Volume 11 (1995) edited by Ragnar Kinzelbach 
and Max Kasparek. Heidelberg. DM 27. 
This attractively produced journal will be of value to both amateur naturalists 
and professional biologists with an interest in the Middle Eastern region. It 
covers a broad range of animal classes and a variety of topics, and is liberally 
sprinkled with good quality and informative line drawings and black-and- 
white photographs; an attribute from which other journals could learn a great 
deal. 
This particular issue (120 pages) contains sixteen short papers and notes on 
mammals, birds, reptiles, fish, lampreys, insects, molluscs, leeches and catfish 
parasites. The authors are generally professional biologists based at Middle 
Eastern universities, although a wider interest in the region's zoology is indi- 
cated by a number of papers from aficionados resident outside the region. 
Of interest to ornithologists are papers on breeding observations of the birds 
of the Yemeni Tihamah; the migration of the Common Crane Grus grus in 
southern Turkmenistan; Cinereous Bunting Emberiza cineracea breeding on 
Skyros (Greece) and recent records of rare birds in Turkey. These include evi- 
dence for a western breeding range extension in the case of Cinereous Bunting, 
adds to our scant knowledge of Yemen's breeding birds and provides an 
update to the Turkish bird list. 
All papers are clearly and concisely written throughout, with an abstract and 
keywords to facilitate use for the hurried reader. Any biologist or amateur 
naturalist heading to the Middle East should consult it. 
Tony Stones 
De Nobel, W.T. (ed.) (1995) Birds of the Messolonghi wetlands. Eastern 
Mediterranean Wader Project, spring 1990. WIWO Report 53, Zeist, the 
Netherlands. /25. 
This report covers the results of a survey in Greece as part of the Eastern 
Mediterranean Wader project carried out during spring 1990 and coordinated 
with projects in Egypt, Turkey and Tunisia. The study concentrated on the 
Messolonghi wetlands in western Greece, with additional fieldwork within the 
Gulf of Amvrakikos 60km to the north. These areas had both been previously 
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