FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 1 79 



time of rigid schooling to dropping to wing, antici- 

 pates the rise of the bird from every noise which he 

 happens to hear, or from the act of the shooter in 

 walking up to flush, and therefore drops before the 

 bird takes wing. By degrees he becomes more 

 deferential, and anticipates by dropping safely before 

 the bird rises at all, and in time this degenerates into 

 dropping on point, a most undesirable manner of 

 pointing. 



Dropping to point adds greatly to the difficulties of 

 the shooter in reference to the dog, for the latter 

 must then be watched unceasingly. If he happens 

 to drop when the shooter does not see him, a long 

 search to find him may thereby be entailed, and in- 

 deed he may not be found on point at all, it being 

 necessary to whistle or call him from it. A little 

 cover suffices to conceal a dog when lying down. 



When dropped to shot, it is impossible for a dog, 

 lying down, to mark the flight of live birds or the 

 whereabouts of dead birds with the precision that he 

 can attain when standing up. The marking of birds 

 is an accomplishment which all dogs do not possess, 

 it is true, but nevertheless it is a most useful accom- 

 plishment, and much to be desired. 



