104 THE GUN: AFIELD AND AFLOAT 



the most obstinate skulker in thick covert had perforce 

 to leave its hiding-place once " Diss " got fairly on its 

 track. For flushing close-lying woodcock or pheasant, 

 or in turning partridge or rabbit out of thick hedgerows 

 he had few equals. The accompanying sketch is a good 

 portrait of my old favourite " Diss " coming out of the 

 water. 



Spaniels have long been held in high esteem. As an 

 accompaniment to small parties of guns, or for the 

 general purposes of the solitary sportsman, they are, 

 perhaps, the most generally serviceable of all shooting 

 dogs. They range close at hand, and the shooter in 

 pursuit of pheasant, woodcock, blackcock, or rabbit in 

 densest covert, on bracken and rush-covered ground, or 

 amidst furze and briar and bramble-grown wastes and 

 hedgerows, will have his game readily found and flushed 

 by these hard-working and willing animals. 



There are several distinct varieties of the Spaniel. 

 Amongst the most prominent of these may be mentioned 

 the Clumber, Sussex, Norfolk, Black field, Cocker, the 

 English Water- and the Irish Water-spaniel. These 

 breeds show considerable differences one from another 

 in the matters of form, size, coat, and colour. Some are 

 wholly black, red, or liver-coloured ; others white with 

 various-coloured markings. Varied in appearance as 

 are these several classes of Spaniel, they are almost as 

 strikingly diverse in disposition and general qualifica- 

 tions. Under these circumstances it is not surprising 

 that all are not equally adapted for every department of 

 field work. Some are especially valuable as aids when 

 shooting in close covert, others are better employed in 

 open field work, whilst, as their name implies, the Water- 

 spaniels prove of particular assistance to the wild-fowler. 



