Discovering the breeding grounds of Ross's Gull: 100 years on

June 2005 marked the centenary of one of the most notable events of twentieth-century ornithology: the discovery of the breeding grounds of Ross's Gull Rhodostethia rosea, in northeast Siberia, by Russian ornithologist Sergei Buturlin. News of the discovery was announced in Britain to a meeting of the British Ornithologists' Club on 13th December 1905 by Henry Dresser, Buturlin's long-term correspondent. This article provides details on Buturlin's famous discovery and investigates the relationship between Buturlin and Dresser. Previously unpublished photographs of Buturlin and his expedition are presented, together with new information extracted from correspondence between Dresser and Buturlin that is preserved at the Museum of Local Lore, History and Economy in Ulyanovsk, Russia, which houses the largest surviving archive on Buturlin. © British Birds 98.