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quarter mile in length and about 400-500 feet in width (Ganier). 
Several hundred nests of American Egrets, Ward’s Herons (southern 
form of the Great Blue Heron), and Double-crested Cormorants were 
observed in the tops of defoliated cypress trees. Some trees had as 
many as twenty to twenty-five nests each. All three species were 
incubating eggs, and some nests of the Heron contained young. The 
Egret was twice as numerous as the Ward’s Heron, while the Cor- 
morant fell in between these numbers; our estimate listed approxi- 
mately 300 American Egrets, 200 Double-crested Cormorants, and 150 
Ward’s Herons. About 25 Anhingas (or Water-turkeys) were ob- 
served flying about the colony, and two Black-crowned Night Herons 
were also seen. Both of these species, particularly the latter, no doubt 
become more numerous later in the spring since both are known to 
nest in ‘‘Cranetown” in addition to those species mentioned previously. 
Grackles moved about in the colony, probably stealing fragments 
of food left by the nesting birds. Black Vultures soared overhead, 
very likely feeding on dead and deserted young. Several dead young 
of the Ward’s Heron were found below the trees. Other than these 
nesting species of the colony and the additional ones attracted by it, 
the bird life of the cypress swamp included the Wood Duck, Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher, Sycamore Warbler, Red-eyed and Yellow-throated Vireos, 
Carolina Wren, and Pileated and Red-bellied Woodpeckers. The Pro- 
thonotary Warbler was especially abundant and is perhaps the most 
conspicuous of small passerine birds in the wooded swamps about 
Reelfoot Lake. 
In addition to the birds inhabiting ‘“Cranetown,” other species 
of the family Ardeidae frequent Reelfoot Lake. Yellow-crowned Night 
Herons and Little Blue Herons occasionally nest about Reelfoot. The 
latter become numerous during late summer along with the appearance 
of flocks of the Wood Ibis from the South. The Green Heron, Amer- 
ican Bittern, and Least Bittern are also summer residents and com- 
plete this remarkable list. 
“Cranetown” is perhaps one of the largest inland heronries and 
adds considerably to the other undoubted avifaunal attractions of 
Reelfoot Lake. At the height of the nesting season, according to re- 
cent estimates (3), about 1,500 birds representing five species are 
present. These together with the presence of nesting Wood Ducks, 
Hooded Mergansers, Bald Eagles, Duck Hawks, and other larger species, 
the abundance of bird life in general, and the stretches of virgin 
cypress swamp and luxuriant floodplain forest create a distinctly pri- 
meval atmosphere—the sort of atmosphere that has become more and 
more distant from our reach. — 
SELECTED REFERENCES 
(1) Crooks, Compton, The birds of late summer on Reelfoot 
Lake, Jour. Tenn. Aca. Sci., 10 (1) :1-18 (1935). (Gives bibliography. ) 
(2) Ganier, Albert F., A distributional list of the birds of Ten- 
nessee, Tenn. Ornithological Soc., Tenn. Avifauna No. 1 (1933). 
(3) Ganier, Albert F., Water birds of Reelfoot Lake, Tennessee, 
ieO2e, Penn: Avitauna. No. 2’ (1938). 
