I am very grateful to Martin Garner for reviewing an earlier draft of this article and checking some of the preliminary conclusions with overseas correspondents. I was not so grateful to Martin for his publication as Garner (1998) of the substantive part of my manuscript Atlantic forms of Yellow-legged Gulls, submitted to British Birds in November 1997, refereed by Martin and rejected by British Birds on his advice. The editor of British Birds, then Tim Sharrock, was ineffective in resolving the problem. Unreserved thanks to all the laridophiles I met at the 5th International Gull Meeting at Porto in Portugal, Andrés Bermejo for supplying his paper on Iberian Atlantic Yellow-legged Gulls given at the 4th International Gull Meeting, Ignacio Munilla for information on recoveries of northern Iberian Yellow-legged Gulls, Philippe J Dubois for providing some information on his experience with Atlantic Yellow-legged Gulls, Martin Collinson for his constructive comments on an earlier draft and to Tom Cadwallender for photographs from Gibraltar and to Dick Newell for photographs from the San Sebastian area.