508 DOG-BKEAKING. 



83. A water spaniel should also be taught to fetch 

 86, 87, 91 to 94 be accustomed to follow quietly close 

 to your heels, be broken in, not to the " down charge" 

 26 but to the " drop" 22 to 25 the instant you 

 signal to him, while you are noiselessly stalking the 

 wild-fowl previously reconnoitred, with the aid of your 

 Dollond, from some neighboring height ; nor should 

 he stir a limb, however long he and you may have to 

 await, ensconced behind a favoring bush, the right 

 moment for the destructive raking discharge of your 

 first barrel, to be followed by the less murderous but 

 still effective flying shot. On hearing the report, it is 

 his duty to dash instantly into the water, and secure 

 the slain as rapidly as possible. 



84. A really good water retriever is a scarce and 

 valuable animal. He should be neither white nor black, 

 because the colors are too conspicuous, especially the 

 former a hint by-the-bye for your own costume ;* 



* But when the moors are covered with snow, poachers, who 

 emerge in bands from the mines, often put a shirt over their clothes, 

 and manage to approach grouse at a time when a fair sportsman 

 cannot get a shot; but this is the only occasion on which one uni- 

 form color could be advantageous. A mass of any single color 

 always catches, and arrests the eye. Nature tells us this; animals 

 that browse, elephants, buffaloes, and large deer, as well as those 

 which can escape from their enemies by speed, are mostly of one 

 color. On the contrary, the tiger kind, snakes, and all that lie in 

 wait for, and seize their prey by stealth, wear a garment of many 

 colors, so do the smaller animals and most birds, which are saved 



