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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