Eamonn Fitzgerald's Rainy Day

There's an ancient and erudite practice of informing the editor of The Times as to when the first cuckoo of the season has called. It's an English rite of spring, sort of. The letters are often memorable. An example from 12 February 1902:

Sir, — On Sunday morning last, while delivering my sermon on the meaning of Responsibility in Family Life, I was interrupted by a cuckoo.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
Osric Cantuar
The Athenaeum.

The Guardian does not have any such noble custom to boast of but it does make up for in malice what it lacks in tradition and this allows it to pursue other creatures, notably, lame ducks. And so, in yesterday's newsblog, Mark Tran posted Bush begins quacking. An excerpt: "But five months after the November vote, his opponents' fears and supporters' hopes seem misplaced. In fact, the president already seems a diminished figure politically — if not a lame duck."

The best thing about this kind of twaddle is the comments it provokes, showing again how the blog format allows a paper's readers to get involved in a story, even if it is cracked. Oh, and talking of quacks, here's an apposite comment on the post: "Too many crazy windbags vitiating the atmosphere of this esteemed blog-site. But they don't need to feel frustrated. Craziness can be cured. Send me $ 250 and I will give you psychiatric counseling. I can guarantee absolute return to normality in six months. E-mail me your problems. I will offer solutions for very small price. Anoop Verma." For once, spam sums it up nicely.

From Rainy Day's Miscellany of Facts: On Hearing The First Cuckoo in Spring by Frederick Delius received its first performance in Leipzig on 2 October 1913.