2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. 123 



Smithsonian Institution scientists recorded data on seabirds ob- 

 served during 15 cruises aboard the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries 

 research vessel Tovmsend Cromwell while the ship was engaged in 

 oceanographic research as a preliminary part of the Trade Wind Zone 

 Oceanography Program. These data have been utilized in a pilot 

 study to determine the feasibility of recording, storing, and analyzing 

 seabird records in a computerized automatic data processing system. 

 The system described herein is in part descended from a simpler one 

 developed by the Bureau to store and analyze its own bird observa- 

 tions. Coding used in the various fields of data in this pilot project 

 is presented in this paper and details of the codes are given in the 

 tables. Computer programming for the system is discussed by 

 Creighton (in prep.). A full report on the results of the analysis of 

 bird observation data from these cruises will be published by King, 

 but the preliminary results suggest that ADP may be applicable to 

 a cooperative international system of seabird observation, data 

 storage, and analysis. 



The Bureau of Commercial Fisheries, Hawaiian Island area, has 

 been a vital partner in the development of this pilot study. John C. 

 Marr, area director and Gunter Seckel, coordinator of the Trade 

 Wind Zone Oceanography Program, and their staff have made it 

 possible for Smithsonian scientists to observe seabirds aboard the 

 Townsend Cromwell and have given us access to BCF oceanographic 

 data, punch cards, and computer programs. Reginald Creighton's 

 close cooperation as programming analyst has turned the projected 

 aims of this system into a working reality. The original impetus 

 to undertake the computer analysis of the seabird observation data 

 came from Philip S. Humphrey, Principal Investigator, Pacific Ocean 

 Biological Survey Program. Nicholas J. Suszynski, Jr., Director of 

 the Information Systems Division at the Smithsonian, provided 

 valuable advice. Mrs. Anne Keenan Poulson patiently prepared 

 the figures for this publication. We are deeply grateful to all of them. 



Observations. — From March 1964 to July 1965 the Smithsonian 

 Institution conducted an at-sea study to determine the distribution, 

 movements, and abundance of seabirds in a 500,000-square-mile area 

 of the central Pacific Ocean south and east of the main Hawaiian 

 Islands between 148° and 158° west longitude and 10° and 26°30' north 

 latitude (fig. 1). Each of the 15 replicate cruises covered a fixed track 

 of 4460 miles and lasted approximately 20 days. There was no cruise 

 in August 1964. 



Two experienced observers alternated 2-hour watches each day from 

 sunrise to sunset. They identified birds at sea as accurately and 

 specifically as possible and recorded all data on standardized reporting 

 forms. Some identifications were confirmed through collection of 



