COMMANDER Alexander William Parrish Robertson, R . N . (Retd)., died on 13th June, 1956. Born a t Harlow, Essex, in August 1908 and educated at Harrow, he entered the Royal Navy in 1926 and served in China, the Mediterranean and Australia, followed by service as House Officer, Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. Robertson took part in Channel convoys, and from 1945 t o 1947 was Comptroller to H . R . H . The Duke of Gloucester, GovernorGeneral, Australia. Until his retirement, medically unfit, in 1949, he was 1st Lieutenant, H . M . S . Ganges, Shotley. His interest in ornithology and bird-photography dated from his early schooldays, and retirement enabled him to devote much of his time t o these pursuits. As an ornithologist, he was a most careful and critical observer. H e studied intensively the birds of East Anglia, in particular the typical species of Breckland. At the time of his death, he was engaged on a monograph of the Crossbill, on which he was the acknowledged authority in Britain. Robertson was a member of the British Ornithologists' Union, of the British T r u s t for Ornithology, and a Member of Council of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Bird-photography he regarded as a magnificent field-sport as well as a means of illustrating his meticulous field-notes. It was his deep conviction that anyone attempting bird-photography without an adequate knowledge of birds generally, and a good working knowledge of the particular bird being