270 BRITISH DOGS 



commanding a full view of the beaten ground, and was regaling 

 himself with divers sandwiches, when he noticed a black-and-white 

 dog ranging the exact country he had been carefully beating, and 

 of course thought at first that it was some rival sportsman who 

 was ignorantly traversing the same ground. He looked and looked, 

 but could see no man, and at last it struck him that the dog must 

 be hunting him. By-and-by, as the dog topped a gate about 

 half a mile below, the writer recognised the Setter Grouse. It was 

 a most interesting thing to watch, as from that point he had made 

 several wide detours in pursuit of marked birds and to beat likely 

 fields, and so on. When the dog lost his scent he would make a 

 wide cast like a hound and recover it, and at times, as in ploughed 

 fields, would plod on the scent at a walk. At last he got into the 

 big grass field where he was sitting, and with head up and stern 

 down raced into him. 



It appeared afterwards that his master thought that he would go 

 out for a quiet shoot about noon, and loosed his dog. Grouse never 

 even looked at him, but taking up the writer's five hours ago trail 

 on the road, ran it at a great pace until finding him as he has 

 described. Needless to say, the writer bought the dog and shot 

 over him many seasons, and a most wonderful animal he turned out. 



In woods, as well as in the open, the dog was first rate ; in a 

 wood he would range right away out of sight, and the writer used 

 to saunter along at his ease with a very clever Retriever at heel. If 

 in the course of a few minutes Grouse did not appear on his 

 return quarter, one whistle would be given, and if he did not 

 come then, the Retriever was told to find him. She would at once 

 follow his trail slowly, looking back and waiting for her master at 

 intervals, till at last she would suddenly back, and there the old boy 

 would be, standing as stiff as a rock, and by hook or by crook the 

 two dogs and the man would generally secure the object of attraction. 

 If, again, one was working a river for water-fowl, the dog would 

 take the opposite bank, if so directed, and point anything he came 

 across, waiting until the Retriever swam over to put it up ; he 

 would never put it up himself or chase it when she did, but sit 

 down and watch quietly what took place, and after the gun was 

 loaded and the thing retrieved, he would continue the even tenour 

 of his way. On several occasions, too, when he saw wild ducks on 

 the water he would drop and hide himself and leave his master to 

 stalk them, or, if he thought it could be done, he would make a 

 circuit as quick as lightning, get in front of the ducks and jump into 

 the water, barking furiously, and the ducks would thus frequently 

 come right over the snug place where the writer had concealed 

 himself when he had noticed the dog's tactics. 



Another very clever Setter was owned by the writer when living 

 in America for a few years. She was given to him as a puppy, 



