10 TH Es “AsUiD) UB @UN Se BSC siya rele 
across at the widest point, and its unusual shape is due to the fact 
that it occupies an old bed of the Mississippi River (“ox-bow’’), the 
river having moved to the west as a result of the earthquake. Espe- 
cially in the center and southern end, hundreds of stumps stand just 
above or just below the water level—remains of trees submerged and 
killed when the lake was formed. Reelfoot Lake, considering its ex- 
panse, is very shallow, being over ten feet deep in but a few places; 
in addition to this, seasonal fluctuations in water level have resulted 
in the development of an abundant hydrophytic vegetation of the lake 
and its floodplain. 
Such a region is not only attractive to the ornithologist, but also 
to the ecologist who is interested in succession and the dynamics of 
plant and animal communities, and for more than ten years a group 
of zoologists from the University of Illinois have spent each Easter 
vacation in field studies at Reelfoot Lake. In the spring of 1938, the 
writer had the opportunity to join the group under the leadership of 
Dr. V. E. Shelford and Dr. S. C. Kendeigh. The trip proved partic- 
ularly profitable because of the remarkable advance of the season, 
two to three weeks ahead of the normal advance, so that the landscape 
presented an early summer aspect at that early date. Without a doubt, 
the highlight of the trip from the ornithologist’s point of view was 
the visit to the heronry. 
“CRANETOWN.” The heronry, known among the natives as “‘Crane- 
town,” is located at the end of Big Ronaldson Slough on the west side 
of Reelfoot Lake along which the zone of cypress swamp is partic- 
ularly broad. It is well secluded and a newcomer finds a native guide 
almost necessary. On the morning of April 17, 1938, our group was 
led over surrounding cultivated fields into the wooded swamp, and 
after following a tortuous path for perhaps half an hour, climbing 
several high deer fences and wading through several feet of water 
for most of the way, we were rewarded with the unmistakable clamor 
so characteristic of heron and egret congregations. As we came closer, 
our progress became slower; for wading through one-to-four-foot 
depths of water necessitated increasing care to avoid holes and sub- 
merged trunks and branches and to climb over numerous floating logs 
that were thickly carpeted with plant life, particularly mosses (Clima- 
cium Kindbergii, a “tree moss,” and Mnium spp. were most abundant). 
Against the beauty of the feathery cypress foliage and the fresh 
leaves of the intermixed river maples (Acer saccharinum), egrets and 
herons arose from hidden perches or flew overhead as they commuted 
between nesting and feeding grounds. In such a setting plus the 
warmth of the day—not to mention the important point that mos- 
quitoes, flies, and gnats were totally absent—our enjoyment of the 
spectacle was complete. 
Entering “Cranetown” proper and in the midst of occasional but 
heavy showers of “whitewash,” we were able to notice that nesting 
was remarkably advanced. Needless to say, during most of our stay, 
the birds squawked and screamed—milled about in much confusion 
and general bedlam prevailed. The heronry covers an area about one- 
