Cramp, died 73 on 20th 1987, will be remembered best his achievement Chief ofThe Birds the StanleyPalearctic.whofor he agedcome nearastoAugustEditor afterprobablyofyears Western This had completing some 23 of sustained effort, with vol. 5 in press, vol. 6 largely prepared, and vol. 7 already partly in draft. Hardly less notable, however, was his Senior Editorship of British Birds, which he took over in 1963, remaining as Board Chairman until the end--a record two-thirds as long as that of its founder, H. F. Witherby. The fact that two previous senior editors chose to continue serving under him on the Board shows the confidence which he commanded and the teamwork characteristic of British Birds. While his leading ornithological distinction had been as President of the British Ornithologists' Union, his many other achievements included those as Chairman of the Scientific Research Committee of the British Trust for Ornithology during a most critical phase of its expansion, as a leader of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds at a corresponding growth period, his formative contributions to the programmes of the London Natural History Society and eventually of the Seabird Group, his initiatives for the Council of Nature and CoEnCo, and internationally his successful assignment for the European Commission on developing a sound scientific foundation for bird protection throughout the Community. All these, apart from his individual work, would amply qualify him as one of the most influential and productive ornithologists of his age. Indeed, it was one of his most notable merits that