The death of Bertram Lloyd on 9 June, 1944, deprives natural history of a most devoted follower. In spite of severe disabilities, which affected him during the last few years of his life, his interest and activity in the different aspects of nature to which he devoted attention remained unimpaired to his last days. He had a passion for mountaineering, having at first climbed among the mountains of Norway and more recently in the Alps of Austria and Switzerland, and to these exertions his final illness is attributed. He was born in North London on 14 May, 1881. He was educated at the Merchant Taylor’s School, and as the result of two years passed in Germany he acquired a fluent knowledge of the language of that country. In his younger days he assisted his father in an insurance office, but such work was unsuitable to his nature. He lived for about a year, accompanied by his brother, in Bethnal Green, the object being to get first-hand evidence of social conditions, in which he took a deep interest. From this incident we can form an idea of the keenness with which Lloyd studied natural history.
Although he was not a specialist, he devoted most attention to birds, of which he was a keen observer in the field, and as a consequence he published many papers and notes, chiefly in ‘British Birds’ and the ‘Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society’. To the former he contributed in 1921 a note entitled “Stone-Curlew in Buckinghamshire”, and continued to make contributions, many dealing with Pembrokeshire, to this journal until his death. Among these notes we notice “Status of the Garden-Warbler in Pembrokeshire” (1926) and “Marsh-Warbler at Wilstone Reservoir” (in June and July 1941), the latter constituting the only published occurrence of this species for Hertfordshire. As examples of his writings in the ‘Transactions of the Hertfordshire Natural History Society’ may be mentioned “The Nesting of Garganeys at Elstree” in 1931, and “Notes on Behaviour of the Great Crested Grebe”, 1935; the Garganeys actually nested in the Middlesex portion of Elstree Reservoir, this being the only nesting record of this species for the Metropolitan county. During the twenty years Lloyd was a member he rendered great service to the Hertfordshire Natural History Society. He was editor of the ‘Transactions’ from 1935 till his death, and after the decease of his close friend, Charles Oldham, to whom he paid suitable tribute in ‘British Birds’, he was responsible for the ‘Reports on Birds’ for 1939, 1940 and 1941.
He devoted special attention to the birds of the Island of Texel, Holland, for some years. He joined the Union in 1923, and was also a Fellow of the Linnean and Royal Entomological Societies.
He married Miss S. N. Colenso, who shared his natural history activities, and by whom he is survived.
W. E. G.
Ibis (The International Journal of Avian Science), 1945