126 TRAINING THE HUNTING DOG 



over the trail aimlessly or potters to and fro, the birds 

 may run entirely away from him. 



Errors in the first attempt are to be expected. The 

 dog learns methods only by his successes and fail- 

 ures. After a time his judgment and functional 

 powers of nose become so developed and trained that 

 he can discriminate between the body scent and the 

 foot scent, and when pointing can estimate with pre- 

 cision the whereabouts of the concealed birds. 



The. purpose of the point, is twofold ; the dog when 

 set eTndeavors to accurately locate the birds by his 

 powers of scent, and he then is in a better position to 

 spring vigorously to capture. When he makes his 

 point every muscle is at its utmost tension. The 

 opening and closing jaw regulates the intake of air 

 so that the nostrils will not be disturbed in their act 

 of nice discrimination ; the eyes are set with a fixed, 

 bloody purpose. He may determine in an instant 

 the whereabouts of the birds, or it may take him some 

 moments. When he is satisfied that he has them lo- 

 cated he springs in with astonishing energy and 

 quickness, and many times is successful in capturing 

 before the birds can take wing, or, taking wing, he 

 may capture before they can get beyond his reach. 



