76 BIRDS OF THE DISTRICT OF GEELONG 
GREY PLOVER 
Squatarola squatarola hypomelus 
With this species we come to the first of a numerous 
class which may be termed Asiatic Migrant Waders ; 
of whose breeding-habits, though a great deal has 
been written and repeated, our real knowledge 
remains practically nil. These birds are the Eastern 
counterparts of many species which spend their 
winters in the United Kingdom and Central and 
Southern Europe, and return to breed within the 
Arctic Circle in the northern summer. The Eastern 
birds, which, speaking roughly, reach Australia in 
September and leave again in March, are in each case 
slightly different from the corresponding Western 
form, showing that, close as may be the relationship, 
the two forms have separate breeding-areas. If 
they bred together, subspecific differences would 
disappear. Our knowledge of Australian birds cannot 
be considered satisfactory until some one with the 
time and enthusiasm necessary for the task has dis- 
covered and described for us the nesting-habits of 
these exceedingly interesting species. They may, of 
course, go right up to the limits of the Polar tundras, 
in the north of Asiatic Siberia, as is commonly said ; 
but such investigations as have been made there 
have been resultless. Or they may, and this I think 
more likely, have their summer home in the uplands 
of Northern China. The Snipe, we know, breeds 
in Japan. 
