CH. ix.] WOODCOCK LOST. 159 



as carefully for your pupil's first " feathering " upon the 

 dead bird, as you did (259) upon his first coming upon 

 the covey. You see, then, that your teaching him to 

 " point dead " is absolutely indispensable ; unless, indeed, 

 you constantly shoot with a retriever. Pointing at a 

 live bird or at a dead one, should only differ in this, that 

 in the latter case the dog makes a nearer point. Begin 

 correctly, and you will not have any difficulty ; but you 

 may expect the greatest, if you let your dog go up to 

 one or two birds and mouth them, before you commence 

 making him point them. The following season, should 

 you then permit him to lift his game (538), it will be 

 time enough to dispense with his " pointing dead." I 

 dwell upon this subject because many excellent dogs, 

 from not having been properly taught to " point dead," 

 often fail in securing the produce of a successful shot, 

 while, on the contrary, with judiciously educated dogs it 

 rarely happens that any of the slain or wounded are 

 left on the field. Moreover, the protracted search and 

 failure (as an instance see 314) occasions a lamentable 

 loss of time. Were a sportsman who shoots over dogs 

 not well broken to " point dead " (or retrieve) to calcu- 

 late accurately, watch in hand, he would, I think, be 

 surprised to find how many of his best shooting hours 

 are wasted in unprofitable searching for birds, of the 

 certainty of whose untimely fate his dogs had probably 

 long before fully convinced themselves. 



268. I was shooting some seasons back where woodcocks, being 

 scarce, are considered great prizes. If one is sprung, the pheasants 

 are immediately neglected, and every exertion is made to secure the 

 rara avis. We flushed one ; at length it was killed ; it fell in thick 

 cover, was found by a setter (a feather or two in his mouth 

 betraying him) ; but as the dog had not been properly taught to 

 "point dead," we were obliged to leave the bird behind, after 

 spending nearly half an hour in a fruitless search. 



269. As to the word " Dead," whether you choose to 



