29 
Oman Bird News . (Oman Bird Records Committee, c/o P. 0. Box 246, 
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman.) 
Nature & Ornithological Society of North Yemen Newsletter . 
Contains bird notes. (MOSY, c/o Mrs. Margaret Higgins, :/o British 
Veteriiiary Project (Sana'a, Y. A. R.), F. C. 0. Bagrooa na ' a , 14 
King Charles Street, London SWIA 2Ari.) 
Phoenix . (A newsletter compiled and dLstrihateJ by M. 7. Jennings 
for contributors tj the Atlas of the breeding birds of Arabia in 
prep.)* (M« 0. Jennings, Moonraker Cottage, I Eastcourt, Burbage, 
Marlborough, Wilts.) 
LETTERS 
Dear Sir 
As one of the most remote and out-of-touch members, I can only sit 
back and wholeheartedly applaud the splendid and exciting 
contributions that others are making to the ornithology of the 
Middle East, at the same time envying them their opportunities of 
visiting and living in that enchanting part of the world. 
However, not all records are as original as claimed. For instance, 
in OSME Bulletin 20: 42 the first record of the Fieldfare Turdus 
pilaris is given for Iraq, admittedly at second-hand. In fact, the 
species is quite well known for that country and there ought to be a 
specimen in the Iraqi Natural History Museum. References are In the 
Bulletins of the INHM Vol. 1(49) and Vol. 2(1 & 3) and in Ardea 51: 
237-43. A similar over-optimistic claim for the occurrence of the 
Citrine Wagtail Motacilla citreola in Iraq was niade in Sandgrouse 4: 
66, overlooking records published in Bull. INHM 1(4): 34. Likewise, 
there has been an omission regarding the occurrence of the Shore 
Lark Eremophila alpestris in the southern Iraqi deserts "see Bu 1 1 . 
INHM 1(4) : 2 7) . 
One might go even a little further and suggest that the discovery of 
the spectacular migration of raptors at Eilat and along the Gulf of 
Aqaba was foreshadowed in Ibis 14(5): 277-8 for 1941 by observations 
near Hurghada in Egypt, almost opposite the entrance to the Gulf. 
S. Marchant, Box 123, Moruya, NSW 2 587, Australia. 
REVIEWS 
A New List of the Birds of Masirah Island, Sultaiiate of Jman by 
T. D. Rogers. 1988. 48 pages. The Oman Bird Records CoiaatCLee, 
P. 0. Box 246, Sultanate of Oman . 
Although long recognised for its importance to breeding seabirds ind 
as a migration scop-over for many waders and passerines - Che island 
