1 68 COCK SHOOTING. 



the notion that a cock is as blind as an owl 

 in the daylight. Clumber spaniels, low-sized 

 dogs that can run busily, are the best for this 

 sort of shooting. We should also recommend 

 the outsider, whom we have been advising, to 

 furnish himself with a good retriever. When 

 a bird falls over the trees it is not easy to find 

 him, and occasionally he cannot be found at 

 all, being stuck, perhaps, wings outstretched in 

 the upper branches. When the ground has 

 been thoroughly searched for a dead bird, and 

 you are pretty sure as to the spot, it is a good 

 plan to shake the trees in the vicinity. After 

 beating thick coverts, if there is a well-clothed 

 heather moor in the neighbourhood, there the 

 sport should be followed up. The moor should 

 be closely beaten, and on this occasion the 

 setters and the pointers may be used. The 

 birds not being long in the place, the scent is 

 often not powerful enough to draw the dogs, 

 and so they should be treated with indulgence 

 for faults of nose ; besides the cock runs very 

 fast and in a zigzag fashion, as if he quite un- 

 derstood the intentions of the sportsmen. On 

 some moors broad reaches of withered fern 



