RETRIEVERS. 427 



note should be musical. While hunting the spaniel sweeps his 

 well feathered tail from side to side, never carrying it as high as 

 the back, and is a very pretty object to any one who has an eye 

 for beauty. A spaniel must possess a thick coat, as it is subject 

 to continual wetting from the drippings of the scrub oaks, etc., 

 through which he has to force his way ; he should weigh not less 

 than fourteen pounds, and may with advantage weigh thirty 

 pounds, as do the breed known by the name of " Clumber ; " these 

 animals work silently. The Cocker is a much smaller animal ; 

 his average weight is about fifteen pounds. He is an active and 

 lively dog, dashing about his work with an air of gay pleasure that 

 assists materially in adding to the spirits of his master, and will 

 be found the most useful animal for woodcock in the fall. 



RETRIEVERS. 



There are two species, the water and the land retriever. The 

 water retriever is, or ought to be, a cross between the smaller kind 

 of Newfoundland dog, sometimes called the Labrador dog, and 

 the setter. This dog is especially useful to the sportsman when 

 shooting wild fowl, through creeks, bayous, etc., and saves him an 

 infinite deal of trouble, and is by no means in the way. Many 

 sportsmen imagine that this dog will scare wild fowl, but his 

 actions teach us just the contrary, as his careful training, natural 

 instinct, and color, act as a decoy rather than otherwise. A good 

 water retriever is, however, seldom to be met with, and should be 

 taught when quite young. Nothing answers this purpose better 

 than shooting divers or any young duck, then sending the retriever 

 in the water, and, after he has got his bird, call him to you, take 

 the bird gently out of his mouth, caress and pat him. In three or 

 four lessons, if the water be not too cold, you will find there will 

 be no necessity of even telling him to fetch, as instinct and his 

 natural fondness for the water will be all that is necessary to make 

 a thorough retriever of him. The great drawback, however, is 

 that he must be kept in almost constant practice, and should be 

 carefully broken from rats, which abound on the banks of rivers 

 and lakes. 



The best cross for land is a setter with a springer or cocker 



