194 MODERN TRAINING. 



birds, for during the feeding hours in morning and evening 

 he searches through the cornfields, the stubbles, the favor- 

 able open grounds; during the midday hours he devotes 

 special attention to the cover. He whips around the likely 

 corners in the promising places, dexterously taking the wind. 

 of them, and he plans his work so well that the same ground 

 is not worked twice, nor likely places left untried. He is 

 averse to working in bare fields where there is no likelihood 

 of finding birds. His range is irregular, wide or close, 

 according to the peculiarities of the irregular grounds or 

 promising places; withal the course of the handler is con- 

 stantly observed as a guide and base of operations. He 

 exercises his memory and profits by it, since, if hunted a few 

 times in the same grounds, he learns the haunt of every 

 bevy and will thereafter find one bevy after another with 

 rare cunning and facility. He learns the variable habits of 

 the birds caused by the changeable fall and winter weather, 

 and the consequent changes in cover and food supply, and 

 governs his efforts thereby; he learns to mark the flight of 

 live .birds and the fall of dead ones; thus by his superior 

 knowledge, resulting from the experience unhampered by 

 ceaseless training, he excels. 



To hunt at his utmost capabilities, aside from all consid- 

 erations of hunting to the gun, the dog needs no training 

 by man; he merely needs natural opportunity to show that 

 he is a fierce, intelligent and persistent hunter. When in 

 pursuit of prey, he exerts every endeavor to effect a kill. 

 Nor are his efforts blindly impulsive; when he has had 

 experience, he pursues and captures with great address, and 

 exhibits an admirable knowledge of means to ends. His 

 knowledge, however, is acquired by degrees as his expe- 

 rience enlarges, and every experience adds more to his 

 capabilities. 



The young sportsman may have a dog which quarters 



