134 ^ Book of the Snipe. 



good dog on snipe is as likely to be found 

 in one as another. If there be a choice, 

 perhaps the red Irish setter, though the 

 most wilful of his kind, takes the palm for 

 strength and endurance. His ruddy hue, 

 however, will sometimes render him very 

 difficult to distinguish on ground of similar 

 colour. It is annoying to miss your dog for 

 five minutes, then suddenly to flush by your 

 searching and shouting a bird at which he 

 has been ''setting" in faultless style within 

 half-a-dozen yards of you, an occurrence I 

 have often witnessed in long grass and 

 heather. A good coloured dog for this work 

 is one in which is a strain of Laverack's 

 old Blue Belton blood. These animals are 

 of a bluish-grey hue, ticked with black and 

 white, and besides showing up well in any 

 ground, are hardy and swift of foot, and I 

 think retain their keenness and hunting 

 powers longer than dogs of other hues. 



Just a word of warning about pointers and 

 setters. People not accustomed to shooting- 

 dogs are apt to expect rather too much from 



