WILD LIFE ON THE WING 
In every wood there are certain " lies " which 
the woodcock love above all others, but there 
is an unwritten law that when one bird is in 
possession no other may oust him. But if for 
any reason the coveted " lie " is left empty for 
ever so short a time, the second woodcock may 
slip in, and cannot in his turn be driven out. 
Therefore, though you may kill a 'cock out of 
a certain brake every day, you will always find 
that as long as the woodcock continue to come 
into the country, his place will be filled again 
next morning : but whether the cock tries 
every favourite spot in turn, or if not, how he 
knows that it is empty, is a part of the wood- 
magic which men do not know. 
That is why Creaman flew so strongly every 
morning : he knew that if he were late in 
returning that some one else might have slipped 
into his place at her side, and that he could not 
brook. 
On the morning of the fourth day, however, he 
could not fly at all, for his wound was too stiff 
and sore, so he lay still. She took little notice 
of him : she was thinking perhaps of her umber- 
mottled eggs in the nest by the swamp. Early 
in the afternoon she laid the fourth and last, 
and jubilated over it. Towards dusk, a strange 
woodcock, flushed perhaps from some distant 
covert, alighted close by, and his presence 
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