BIRDS IN THE CALENDAR 



song, and it seems remarkable that such a 

 volume of sound should come from a throat 

 so slender. Yet the rasping note is welcome 

 during the early days of its arrival, since, 

 just as the cuckoo gave earlier message of 

 spring, so the corncrake, in sadder vein, 

 heralds the ripeness of our briefer summer. 



The East Anglian name " dakker-hen " 

 comes from an old word descriptive of the 

 bird's halting flight ; and indeed to see a land- 

 rail drop, as already mentioned, after flying 

 a few yards, makes one incredulous when 

 tracing its long voyages on the map. In the 

 first place, however, it should be remembered 

 that the bird does not drop back in the grass 

 because it is tired, but solely because it knows 

 the way to safety by running out of sight. 

 In the second, the apparent weakness of its 

 wings is not real. Quails have little round 

 wings that look ill adapted to long journeys. 

 I have been struck by this times and again 

 when shooting quail in Egypt and Morocco, 

 yet of the quail's fitness for travel there has 

 never, since Bible days, been any question. 



The landrail is an excellent table bird. 

 Personally I prefer it to the partridge, but 

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