SPECIAL FIELD DOGS 75 



range, when the gunners np and at 'em, where- 

 upon the toller swims out, retrieves the slain, and 

 again begins his tactics when another flock settles 

 out in front. By this means a good bag is secured 

 under adverse circumstances familiar to us all, 

 those aggravating days when the ducks will not 

 trade but persist in rafting out in the bay consid- 

 erably out of range. 



Such is the toller, seemingly a breed produced 

 by crossing the English retriever on the well- 

 known Labrador dog or Labrador retriever, a 

 close relative of the Newfoundland. Mr. H. A. P. 

 Smith of Nova Scotia is at present the principal 

 breeder of these dogs. 



A final field dog is the much neglected spaniel. 

 In England he takes the place of the setter here, 

 for the average poor man's dog. Easy to keep, 

 affectionate, a good bird-finder, the spaniel is just 

 the dog for the close Enghsh coverts, where you 

 want the ground thoroughly worked up. I should 

 say that he fills a good niche here, for the subur- 

 banite sportsman's dog. Suppose you want a 

 house and watch dog that you can train to retrieve 

 and that will naturally point grouse, woodcock and 

 jack snipe when you get a day off and set out in 

 the car to get a little shooting. A good, quiet, 

 brainy cocker, working near you yet marking for 



