NATURAL AREAS AND REGIONS 



467 



nigra), willow oak (Q. phellos), basket 

 oak or cow oak (Q. michauxii), overcup 

 oak (Q. lyrata), Southern red oak (Q.fal- 

 cata), large cane (Arundinaria macro- 

 sperma), red buckeye (Aesculus pavia), 

 pecan (Carya pecan), planer tree (Planera 

 aquatica) hackberry (Celtis mississip- 

 piensis), holly (Ilex opaca), and wax 

 myrtle (Myrica cerifera) in the southern 

 counties. 



A few of the characteristic mammals 

 of this area have been listed (Howell) 

 as follows: cotton mouse (Peromyscus 

 gossypinus megacephalus) , golden mouse 

 (Peromyscus nuttalli aureolas'), swamp 

 wood rat (Neotoma floridana subspp.), 

 cotton rat (Sigmodon hispidus), Loui- 

 siana pocket gopher (Geomys breviceps), 

 swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus), 

 Louisiana skunk (Mephitis mesomelas), 

 evening bat, and Carolina shrew. 



Among the characteristic breeding 

 birds of this lowland belt the following 

 have been listed by several ornitholo- 

 gists : water-turkey, Florida barred owl, 

 Florida screech owl, red-cockaded wood- 

 pecker, Florida nighthawk, Bachman 

 sparrow, painted bunting, Swainson 

 warbler. 



Water pollution 



Waters are polluted in oil fields in 

 southern Arkansas, doing considerable 

 damage to plant and animal life. In 

 the Poteau river near Fr. Smith fish 

 are found to be killed by mine waters 

 charged with iron salts, whose rapid 

 oxidation de-oxygenates the waters and 

 suffocates the fish, or starves them by 

 destroying the algae and their main 

 food supply. Otherwise the pollution 

 occurring from mining, manufacturing 

 and sewage is probably negligible at the 

 present time. 



III. NATURAL AREAS 



*Big Lake. A federal bird and game 

 preserve of 7774 acres, including most 

 of Big Lake, which is a wide place in 

 Little River, a tributary to the St. 

 Francis River. Contains many migrant 

 and winter visitant birds including 



cranes, many species of ducks such as 

 the mallard, canvas-back, Ringnecked- 

 duck, pintails, gadwalls, scaups, mer- 

 gansers and redheads, wood ducks breed 

 here. Rare wading birds such as the 

 yellow-crowned night heron and many 

 other waders have been observed. 



Typical plants are lotus (Nelumbo 

 lutea), cypress, tupelo gum, water hick- 

 ory (Carya aquatica), overcup oak, 

 cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia), and to 

 the east of the eastern shore near the 

 Missouri line may be found the rare 

 corkwood (Leitneria floridana). Old 

 maps show the lake much wider than it 

 actually is on the Arkansas side. 

 Blythevillel on Jonesboro Lake City and 

 Eastern Railway, or Big Lake Station, 

 or Osceola Jet. Also reached from 

 headquarters of warden at Hornersville, 

 Mo./. T. B. 



*Walker Lake. A federal preserve 

 of 15 acres set aside by executive order. 

 Consists of Mississippi bottom lands 

 shown as a lake in old maps, but practi- 

 cally no lake actually exists in reserved 

 part. Of biological interest because 

 it is a resort and breeding place for 

 rare species of wading birds, particularly 

 the great blue heron, the American 

 egret, the water-turkey, and double- 

 crested cormorant. The Canada goose 

 occasionally breeds here. Motion pic- 

 ture entitled "Anne's Aigrette" showing 

 breeding colonies of egrets and inhu- 

 manity of traffic in plumage was made 

 here by photographers of the Biological 

 Survey, which is available for educa- 

 tional purposes. Blythesvillet on 

 Jonesboro Lake City and Eastern Rail- 

 way./. T. B. 



*Big Island. (A3.) An island along 

 Mississippi river in Desha County, 

 formed by Arkansas river on south and 

 west, with White river cut-off 4 mi. on 

 west, White river on north and Missis- 

 sippi river to east. Circumference 

 about 45 mi. With the natural protec- 

 tion that it has it would be easy to 

 protect. There are lakes, bayous, and 

 many species of migratory waterfowl, 

 and there is a great quantity of natural 

 cover for game. ^Contains .^Virginia 



