46 The Partridge Family 



conversation with the dog clean and crisply short 

 he will then better grasp your meaning. A 

 loud-voiced, foul-mouthed man is unfit company 

 for a true sportsman. 



In the event of a bird being winged, and what 

 is termed "a runner," keep the dog firmly in 

 hand, unless he has already been ordered to 

 retrieve. In that event, of course, he should be 

 allowed to do his best to carry out the original 

 order. Too much chasing of runners is bad for 

 most dogs ; in a majority of cases it probably 

 would be better to lose the bird than to rattle the 

 dog by a scuffling pursuit. Especially is this 

 true of young dogs, for in their excitement over 

 perhaps a flying catch, they are apt to develop 

 an undesirable hardness of mouth. Old, wise 

 fellows may safely be allowed considerably more 

 liberty. Above all, let the man control himself. 

 The sight of a joint pursuit by a team composed 

 of a maniac and a temporarily rabid animal is, 

 to say the least, somewhat depressing. Another 

 and a most important matter following the first 

 flushing of the bevy is " marking down," i.e. 

 keeping a sharp eye on the birds, and carefully 

 noting just where they pitch. Attention to this 

 is most valuable, not alone in the saving of time, 

 but as a preventative against uselessly working a 

 dog over ground far from the hidden quarry. 

 Some men become masters of marking. They 



