116 ANIMALS USED BY THE SHOOTER. 



little difference in the attitudes of the two. The setter is 

 more light and airy than the pointer, and generally works 

 at a faster pace, but there are some strains of the latter which 

 will beat a field out quite as soon. There can be no doubt, 

 however, that he bears cold and wet better than his smooth 

 rival, and for work on marshes he is superior, while his feet 

 and legs being more clothed with hair, he is also better able 

 to stand the friction of heather. Hence he is generally pre- 

 ferred for snipe shooting, and for the moors wherever a setter 

 can be met with possessing a good nose and steady withal, he 

 is selected as the best dog for that kind of work. Generally, 

 however, he yields to the pointer in these qualities; and un- 

 fortunately, although he may appear to be thoroughly broken 

 to-day, yet next week he will show a want of steadiness 

 which is most provoking. The latter defect is not so com- 

 mon now as formerly, nor is it so general amongst high-bred 

 English setters, as among those in this country which are of 

 inferior strains, or especially among Irish dogs, which are 

 peculiarly headstrong, though possessed of great powers of 

 endurance, and of delicate noses. There is seldom a want 

 of speed in this dog, and more frequently he is too fast 

 rather than too slow. 



In general appearance there is little difference between the 

 English and Irish setter, but by a good and careful observer 

 the one may readily be distinguished from the other. Still, 

 the difference is so slight that it is difficult to describe it ; 

 and with the exception of the rich red colour of the Irish 

 dog, which is not often met with in those of pure English 

 blood, the superficial observer would fail to detect any pro- 

 minent point by which he might distinguish them. The 

 head of each is of medium heaviness, between that of the 

 true old pointer and the foxhound, but still showing the 

 square muzzle of the former to a certain extent. The eye 

 is brighter than that of the pointer, showing a degree of 

 merriment seldom seen in that dog; ear long, thin, and 

 clothed with wavy hair ; neck longer and straighter than 

 that of the pointer, and without the roundness of the nape 

 peculiar to that dog ; ribs natter, and loin seldom so strong, 

 there being a great tendency to slackness like that of the 

 Newfoundland; hips ragged; shoulders generally loose and 



