FIRST LESSON IN AUTUMN COMMENCED. 547 



hunt with a companion, and wish h*>th the dogs, as is 

 usual, to cross you, you will, of course, habituate him to 

 make his sweeps the space between the parallels wider 

 than if you had intended him to hunt without any one 

 to share his labors. 



137. I need hardly warn you to be careful not to 

 interrupt him whenever he appears to be winding birds, 

 However good his nose may be by nature, it will not 

 gain experience and discrimination unless you give him 

 a certain time to determine for himself whether he has 

 really touched upon a faint scent of birds, and whether 

 they are in his front or rear, or gone away altogether. 

 Like every other faculty, his sense of smell will improve 

 the more it is exercised. But on the other hand, as I 

 observed before, do not let him continue puzzling with 

 his nose close to the ground, urge him on, make him 

 increase his pace, force him to search elsewhere, and he 

 will gradually elevate his head, and, catching the scent 

 Df other particles, will follow up these with a nose borne 

 aloft, unless he is a brute not worth a twentieth part of 

 the pains which you think of bestowing upon him ; for, 



138. Besides the greatly decreased chance of finding 

 them, birds that to a certainty would become uneasy, 

 and make off if pursued by a dog tracking them, will 

 often lie well to one who finds them by the wind. 

 They are then not aware that they are discovered, and 

 the dog, from the information his nose gives him, can 

 approach them either boldly or with great wariness, 

 according as he perceives them to be more or less shy. 



