THE WOODCOCK 
and Instinct with its capital letter. Then we 
may consider the story of Creaman the Wood- 
cock, and judge it by whichever light we 
please. For if Creaman had been a man I 
should say that he played the part of a brave 
gentleman for the next two days, but as we are 
dealing with a bird, we will only wonder at his 
instinct ; not, however, forgetting that both 
moral codes and instincts somewhere deep in 
the sands of Time may have had a common 
root. 
All the next night he kept his place beside his 
mate, and the next day he saw a second egg 
lie under the fern stub beside the first ; and that 
evening he flew again, and upheld the honour 
and beauty of his lady (or its equivalent in the 
jargon of woodcock chivalry) against all comers. 
But he scarcely ate anything on either night, 
and was weak and tired by dawn ; for the fire 
of Creaman's vitality, like that of most birds, 
requires much fuel, and he was too dull and 
depressed to seek far for food. But in spite of 
it all he did his duty those two nights. 
There have been strong-flying 'cock in Garry- 
brack ever since blood of his blood, and bone 
of his bone to whom he gave his own pluck 
and stamina witnesses whose very existence 
was proof of the stout fight he put up against 
pain and languor for three days. 
103 
