THE SNIPE 281 



I am much in favor of the use of dogs. The walk- 

 ing is difficult and laborious, the grounds are of wide 

 extent ; a well-trained dog can be sent long distances 

 to search for the birds and thus save the shooter many 

 steps. He will point wild birds at long range and 

 retrieve the fallen, and should the birds prove very 

 wild and refuse to lie to him, he can be sent forth to 

 find and move a lot of birds, which are easily marked 

 down, and if necessary the dog can be ordered to heel 

 upon approaching them. Then, too, more than half 

 the pleasure of field sports is the observation of the 

 high bred, intelligent animals. The protective mark- 

 ings of a snipe make it most difficult to find without 

 the aid of a dog, and the shooting is often too rapid for 

 the good marking of dead birds. Snipe-shooting is 

 hard work for the dogs. They get thoroughly wet 

 and muddy, and have earned a rest by the fire before 

 they are put in the kennel for the night. It is impor- 

 tant they should be dry, otherwise they may be stiff 

 and useless on the morrow. 



The spaniels often used in cock-shooting have been 

 used on snipe. I never so used them excepting on the 

 occasion referred to in Michigan and once in Illinois. 



The two bright little spaniels at the dairy-farm 

 rushed out of the house and came to me at the sound 

 of the gun, and since their owner did not object, I used 

 them that day and on several other occasions, and 

 they did excellent work. The ground was peculiarly 

 suitable for their use, however, a good part of it being 

 a long narrow strip between two channels. Starting 

 out with the wind at my back, the dogs ranged well 

 ahead and flushed the birds, which flew toward me. 



