Woodland 
odors 
Effect of 
intense 
heat on 
the birds 
Least 
Bittern 
Yellow-billed 
Cuckoo 
burning sun. The air was filled with a rich yet subtle 
fragrance which varied constantly as I moved on through the 
woods and across openings and the sources of which I could 
not trace. At times it was spicy, at others resinous, in 
quality. Doubtless its unusual prevalence and intensity 
at this mid-day hour was due to the great heat. 
I was interested to find that the birds were not 
in the least silenced or even subdued by the heat. Indeed 
I have rarely heard more free and energetic mid-day singing 
under any conditions. Creepers, Oven-birds, Red-eyed Yireos , 
Maryland Yellow-throats, Song Sparrows and occasionally a 
Thrasher sang with delightful frequency in my woods and 
swamp. The Robins and Tawny Thrushes alone were silent. 
T> I was standing near the gate of Benson's 
landing a Least Bittern began cooing on the opposite side of 
the river, apparently in a large thicket of half-submerged 
button bushes mixed with young white maples: coo . co- ho&T 
hoo repeated every few seconds in a low, cooing, dove-like 
tone, a slight accent on the first and last syllables and 
a very slight pause after the first syllable, the remaining 
three syllables given very quickly. The bird cooed for 
several minutes at these short intervals, then ceased. The 
time was about 11.15 A. M. and heat at nearly its maximum 
intensity. 
On my return paddle up river late in the after¬ 
noon, I saw a pair of Yellow-billed Cuckoos copulating. It 
