WILD-FOWL SHOOTING. 209 



of 'his necessary qualifications. For this work no 

 breed has the slightest value unless the individuals 

 possess rare sagacity and almost human judgment. 

 Some of the most valuable English dogs have been 

 from an accidental cross ; and a pure cur with a heavy 

 coat is often as good as any other. 



There is in England a strain of dogs known as 

 retrievers ; they are mostly used in connexion with 

 upland shooting, as English pointers and setters are 

 not broken to fetch ; but the favorite animals for 

 wild-fowl shooting, which have made their name 

 notorious in connexion with this specialty, have 

 generally come from parents neither of which pos- 

 sesses the true retriever blood. 



In this country the best breed will have some of 

 the Newfoundland strain ; the animal must be 

 clothed with a dense coat of thick hair to endure 

 the severe exposure to which he is subjected, and 

 must be endowed with a natural aptitude and pas- 

 sion for swimming. The usual color is dark, which, 

 in the writer's judgment, is a great mistake ; and the 

 only really distinct breed of retrievers is known as 

 that of Baltimore. 



In the Southern States the dog, as an assistant in 

 wild-fowl shooting, has always been in far greater 

 repute than at the North ; although the inland lakes 

 of the latter, the extensive marshes closely grown 

 up with tall zimosas, matted wild oats, and thick 

 weeds, make his services far more desirable. At 

 the South alone has any intelligent attention been 

 given to raising a superior strain of retrievers ; and 



