282 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



will grow greater in popular favor than any of the other 

 breeds of field dogs. 



As the ruffed grouse, or partridge, the woodcock. ' ' Bob 

 White," and the various other game birds become practi- 

 cally exterminated, as they do in those parts of the coun- 

 try which become thickly settled, our sportsmen find 

 themselves compelled to go hundreds, and even thousands, 

 of miles to find the amount of good shooting they had pre- 

 viously been accustomed to enjoy. This requires a longer 

 purse and greater amount of leisure than the great major- 

 ity of them possess, and consequently they have to adapt 

 themselves to the circumstances, and either forego their 

 sport or seek game which has not as great an antipathy to 

 civilization, thick settlements, and man, as our game birds 

 have. The Eastern sportsman will, therefore, in future, have 

 recourse to our little -short-legged, long-eared friend, and 

 will enjoy his outing just as well as erstwhile he did when 

 his Setter or Pointer led him through the fields. 



In selecting a Beagle for field use, one should of course 

 look to those points of the most practical value. Probably 

 the first matter to be considered is the question of size; 

 this, of course, the buyer must decide for himself, whether 

 he be governed by experience, fancy, or the advice of oth- 

 ers. Next to the question of size, he should bear in mind 

 that quality more important than speed endurance. In 

 order to obviate too great speed" in a Beagle, the standard 

 limits the size of them in height to fifteen inches, as, in 

 hunting the natural game of the Beagle, the hare, only a 

 low rate of speed is desired, and when using the Beagle for 

 fox and deer hunting the object, partly, is to avoid the 

 greater speed of the Foxhound or Deerhound. 



The weak points in the Beagle, and which seem to be 

 characteristic of the breed, but which should be overcome 

 by judicious mating and breeding, are an inclination to 

 snipiness and to being long cast in the loin. The ideal 

 Beagle can not be better described than by quoting from 

 the standard: "A miniature Foxhound, solid and big for 

 his inches, with the wear-and-tear look of the dog that can 



