FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 59 



subsequently neglected for the net ; and the propen- 

 sity of the dog to pause before making his dash at 

 game was cultivated and cherished, by breeding and 

 selection, until at last, gratified by observing the ac- 

 tion of the net, he yielded his natural impulse of 

 springing at all and set or lay down to permit the net 

 to be drawn over him. After this the hawker trained 

 his spaniel to set; then he cast off his hawk, which 

 ascended in circles, and 'waited on' until his master 

 roused the quarry from its concealment, when she 

 pounced upon it like a pistol shot. 



"When used either with hawks or for the net 

 (especially in the latter case), a far heavier dog an- 

 swered the purpose than what we call a 'high-rang- 

 ing setter.' The net enveloped a whole covey in its 

 meshes and few manors would allow of many coveys 

 being taken in a day; whilst the disentangling the 

 birds and securing them allowed time for the heavy 

 dog to rest and regain his wind." 



As further bearing on this point, he refers to it 

 again in the same work, in the chapter on the Sussex 

 spaniel, as follows : "About the year 1555 a Duke of 

 Northumberland trained one 'to set birds for the net,' 

 and soon afterward the setter was produced; either 



