2l6 Correspondence. [ist^'jan. 



(between Victoria and Tasmania), Investigator Strait (between 

 South Australia and Kangaroo Island), Van Diemen Gulf (between 

 the Northern Territory and Melville Island), and the seas between 

 the coast of Queensland and the Great Barrier Reef. I take it 

 that birds found in these areas can unquestionably be regarded 

 as Australian. 



In the past, however, the term " Australian seas " has been 

 used to cover a much wider though indefinite area, and probably 

 most Australian ornithologists would consider that it should not 

 be restricted to territorial waters. If I am correct in thinking 

 this, it seems highly desirable that we should agree as to the area 

 we intend to include. Four alternatives occur to me — (i) the 

 first is to extend our limits to include the region within sight of 

 the coast — say 30 or 40 miles ; (2) the second is to include all 

 seas wdthin straight lines drawn from one point on the coast of 

 the mainland or Tasmania to any other point (this would enable 

 us to include the Great Australian Bight and the Gulf of Carpen- 

 taria as Australian seas) ; (3) the third is to select some arbitrary 

 distance such as 100 or 500 miles from the coast as our limit ; 

 (4) the fourth is to count all seas nearer to Australia than to any 

 other land. It would also be possible to combine numbers i and 

 2 or numbers 2 and 3. Suggestions i and 3 have the advantage 

 of including an equal amount of sea off all parts of the coast, 

 whilst in the case of numbers 2 and 4 the areas of sea regarded as 

 Australian would be much greater off some parts of the coast 

 than it w'ould be off other regions. 



In the accompanying map (No. i) I have indicated territorial 

 waters by shading, and have included not only undoubted 

 territorial waters but also areas lying between islands and the 

 mainland, to which it is doubtful if this term properly applies. 

 I have also drawn lines direct between the most outstanding points 

 on the coast, in accordance with suggestion 2. It will be seen that 

 in the Bight a point 500 miles from land would be included, 

 whilst on the east and west coasts the additional area included 

 is only small. 



In considering suggestion 3, it is worth bearing in mind that, 

 since Torres Strait is only about 100 miles broad, if we fix our 

 line more than 50 miles from the coast we shall include waters 

 which must be regarded as Papuan rather than Australian. 



In map No. 2 I have indicated the area that would be included 

 under suggestion 4 — that is, all seas nearer to Australia than to 

 any other land. The area is so large that it is impossible to draw 

 such a map to scale without distortion of familiar outlines, and 

 the coast-line of the Antarctic continent is relatively too large. 

 The dotted line passes half-way between the Australian coast and 

 the nearest lands, which are, in order. New Guinea, the Louisiade 

 Archipelago, the Avon Islands, Lord Howe Island, New Zealand, 

 Macquarie Island, Antarctica, St. Paul and Amsterdam Islands, 

 the Cocos-Keeling Islands, Christmas Island, Sumba, Rotti, 

 Timor, Timorlaut, the Aru Islands, and back to New Guinea. It 



