FOR THE FIELD AND FIELD TRIALS. 199 



Without a retriever, the success and pleasure of a 

 day's shooting are materially impaired. Birds which 

 fall in heavy weeds or grass or bushes are extremely 

 difficult to find, and such as fall in mud or marshes, 

 though in plain sight, are gathered with much diffi- 

 culty and discomfort. When the shooter does his 

 own retrieving a large percentage of dead and 

 wounded birds and much time are lost. 



As to the specific injuries to the work of the dog 

 employed as a finder-retriever, they are as follows: 

 The best manner of seeking live birds, in respect to 

 the manner in which the dog uses his nose, is dis- 

 tinctly different from the best manner of using it in 

 retrieving. The manner of finding is with a high 

 nose, and therewith the dog cannot go to the birds 

 too quickly consistently with steady performance. 

 His work then is on both bevies and single birds. As 

 a retriever his work is entirely on single birds. He 

 has a puzzling single trail to follow if the bird is 

 wounded, and none at all if the bird is dead. To 

 best find the wounded or dead bird it is essential tha 

 he carry his nose close to the ground and trail slowly 

 and this manner of retrieving the average dog sooi. 

 learns. Unfortunately, this manner may be user 5 



