ioo THE STORY OF A BIRD LOVER 



Irish setter of the old-fashioned type, a dog of ex- 

 ceptional beauty and great intelligence, whose 

 appearance was remarked wherever he went 

 Moreover, he was a gentleman. 



My first efforts in training were the usual 

 hand-breaking that a dog receives preliminary 

 to the outdoor education. He was taught to 

 come when called, to lie down, and to retrieve. 

 After this was thoroughly understood, and the 

 relation of confidence was absolutely established 

 between the dog and myself, so that everything 

 I asked him to do became a pleasure to him, the 

 time approached for my first journey to Florida. 

 The dog was then something over eight months 

 old ; but, so far as I am aware, had never seen a 

 gun, for I had been careful, as his mother had 

 been gun-shy, to train him fully in other matters 

 before making a field dog of him. To be sure, 

 he walked out with me, but these walks were 

 limited to the town, and generally consisted in 

 the daily rounds I made backward and forward 

 to the museum and to my boarding place. 



One day, about a month before starting for 

 Florida, I pulled a gun case out from under my 

 bed. I put the several pieces of the gun together, 

 and without thinking, threw it to my shoulder. 

 All this time Grouse, the puppy, had been sitting 

 by, very much interested in observing my move- 

 ments. As I made the motion with the gun, he 



