FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 63 



ishment in his mistaken attempts to train, the result 

 being an unfortunate condition called "blinking." 



It is a task of extreme difficulty to break the dog 

 from his passionate fondness for hunting rabbits. He 

 for a time will disobey commands, ignore punish- 

 ment and strike out independently to gratify his 

 fondness for chasing them. On their trail he gives 

 tongue merrily and flies along at his topmost speed, 

 through punishing brier or muddy swamp, never 

 feeling fatigue while the ardor of the chase is upon 

 him. 



The setter and pointer, when seeking birds, range 

 about till they strike the trail; then they follow it 

 carefully, silently and alertly. As the setter nears the 

 birds and the scent gets warmer, he feathers; his 

 eyes glisten; his jaws open tremulously; he crouches 

 as he draws nearer, and mayhap he may drop to the 

 ground for a moment; his nerves and muscles be- 

 come tenser in anticipation of the approaching spring 

 and dash into the concealment of the birds, and of 

 ! :he resultant bloody ending. The pointer exhibits 

 the same phenomena, except the feathering. 



The nose of the pointer or setter is his highest 

 organ of sense. It has wonderful functional powers, 



