WOODCOCK-SHOOTING. 83 



finds itself pursued, stops and stands ready for a spring. 

 The dog, knowing this, comes to the full point, stand- 

 ing stanch and still, enjoying the beautiful sensation 

 awakened by the smell of the bird itself. Both stand 

 perfectly still, watching for, but unseen by, the other. 

 The dog now trembles with excitement and pleasure, 

 his tail sloping out behind and the saliva running 

 from his mouth, and making a picture such as but few 

 artists are capable of representing. The sportsman, 

 when he sees the dog on the point, will either order 

 him forward in order to flush the bird, or walk quietly 

 but firmly up in front of, or on the side of the dog, 

 put up the bird himself, and shoot him on the wing ; 

 while the dog remains stationary by his side, until 

 ordered to bring the game to hand. 



I do not agree with those hunters who work the dog 

 in the latter way. I have never walked up a game-bird 

 with any dog that I have trained, and I would never 

 train a dog for such flushing. I should rather choose 

 my position in the woods, signalling the dog by the 

 word "go" to put up the bird, and thus give me all the 

 chances afforded by the open spaces in the thick brush 

 and trees. I do not well see how a sportsman who 

 goes alone into the woods in July or August can fill his 

 bag, unless he manages in this way ; for during these 

 months the woodcock lie amid brush and underwood 

 so dense that the shooter cannot at best see his bird 

 at more than a few yards' distance when it is flushed ; 

 and, even should he be able to get his gun upon it, he 

 would be almost sure to tear the bird to pieces. 



Some sportsmen, I am aware, claim that, under such 



