The setting for Wolf's illustration was probably at Scoulton Mere, near Norfolk. Gould quoted from a description by William Yarrell that a large, boggy island in the middle of this mere, covered with reeds, birch and willow trees, was a favourite breeding place. The gulls arrived about mid-February and searched for food through the surrounding countryside for several miles. About mid-May their eggs were found in great abundance, and were collected 'sometimes upward of a thousand a day', for sale as delicacies. Large numbers of young birds hatched and immediately took to water, and by July they flew off with the adults to the sea coast.

DISTRIBUTION: Breeds in north Palaearctic between about 66°N and 40°N. Winters south to central Africa, south Asia, Philippines, Palau and in east North America from the Great Lakes and Labrador south to Florida. In Britain widely distributed with an estimated 150,000-200,000 breeding pairs