We did not make any effort to cover all of the marsh at the two localities, 
and we could see what looked like similar habitat in two or three more 
localities on the western shore. We therefore suspect the total number of 
Citrine Wagtails in the area exceeded our count of 50. 
At both localities black-headed Yellow Wagtail was the most common 
species in and around the marsh, with unidentified Sedge /Moustached 
Warblers A schoenobaenus/melanopogon in the reedbeds and Skylarks 
Alauda arvensis on the fields. 
Later the same day, we stopped at a small lake a few kilometres east of 
Ardahan, at an altitude of about 1800 m. Here we found one pair of 
Citrine Wagtails foraging on the fields around the lake. All the males we 
saw showed the characteristics of the subspecies M c werae. 
Geir Sverre Anderson, Munkedamsveien 78 B, 0270 Oslo, Norway 
"Cinnamon-browed" white-eyes in 
Sana'a, Yemen 
Derek Harvey 
On 11 December 1992, while watching a group of Palestine Sunbirds 
Nectarinia osea feeding in Acacia trees in a mountain wadi at approximately 
2,500 metres, I noticed a noisy flock of White-breasted White-eyes 
Zosteropsabyssinica moving up the wadi through the Acacias. There were 
approximately 30 birds, and they all had cinnamon-coloured foreheads, 
the colour extending around the sides of the cheeks and down on to the 
chin. So consistent was this cinnamon patch, that I searched the books for 
reference to some sub-species unknown to me, but found none. 
I returned with friends twice during the next week, and each time saw the 
same flock with the same characteristic cinnamon foreheads. On the 
third occasion, two birds flew down to a patch of purple flowers growing 
against a wall, to feed deep into the flower heads. 
On investigation, the plants were identified as Acanthus Arbor eus, not 
unlike a prickly Foxglove Digitalis, and in the base of each flower was a 
sticky, hairy seed with purple pollen adhering to the hairs . The explanation 
was clear, and since the plants ceased flowering, the resident white-eyes 
have reverted to their normal plumage. 
Pollen staining of plumage is well known. Gallagher and Woodcock 
(1980 The Birds of Oman) commented on the common appearance of 
28 
