IN A NOTE in the third volume of British Birds, the late T. A. Coward mentioned some ducks seen at Marbury Mere in Cheshire on 10th April 1910 by one A. W. Boyd, and during the space of nearly 50 years which has passed since then only three volumes--two in the First World War and one in the Second--have appeared without some contribution from him. On 1st March 1944 he became an Assistant Editor and he continued to share the editorial load until his death, in his home county of Cheshire, on 16th October 1959. These simple facts begin to show how much he meant to this journal and how keenly he will be missed. Born in 1885, the younger son of James and Mary Boyd of Altrincham, he was educated at Rugby and Oxford. In early life he was a fine Rugger player, turning out for Sale and for Cheshire on many occasions. He also did much climbing and he once survived a fall of 1,800 feet (into snow) on the Obergabelhorn. Early in the First World War he left for overseas service in Egypt with the 7th Lancashire Fusiliers and quickly rose to the rank of Captain. In 1915 he won the Military Cross in Gallipoli for gallantry in covering the evacuation from Suvla. He was twice wounded and one legacy of the war was the loss of an eye. In spite of this, he managed to rejoin the army and became a Major in the Second World