300 COLONEL T Y'S VENUS. [OH. xvn. 



quite unexpectedly to herself, on the scent of the bird when it was 

 at such a distance from her that the party who had shot it felt sure 

 she was on other game. Instead, however, of " setting," the bitch, 

 who, be it observed, is particularly steady, drew on, and after 

 deliberately walking up to the woodcock, gave it a touseling, for 

 she is not broken into "pointing dead." It is certain that her 

 olfactory nerves plainly told her there was no chance of its rising. 



547. In corroboration of the correctness of the opinion I have 

 just expressed, respecting the difference between the scent of injured 

 and uninjured birds, I am glad to be permitted to make the following 



extract from a letter I lately received from Colonel T y, spoken, 



of in 99. He writes, " When shooting at Alresford, in Essex, last 

 year, I had a singular instance of Venus' sagacity in detecting the 

 scent of wounded game. I was returning home, and while walking 

 through a field of turnips a covey of birds got up near the fence. I 

 winged one, which fell in the midst of some rabbits and pheasants 

 feeding near the edge of the cover on the opposite side. Of course, 

 they all bolted at the appearance of such an unwelcome visitor as 

 the retriever the rabbits into their burrows, the pheasants into 

 cover. My servant brought the bitch up to the place where I 

 thought the bird had fallen. After puzzling about for some time, 

 she took the trail about thirty yards down by the side of the fence, 

 and then 'set' at a rabbit-hole. Thinking she was mistaken, I 

 rated her and tried to get her away, but she stuck to her point. 

 Determining, therefore, to ascertain the facts, we dug up the top 

 part of a narrow fence, and bolted a couple of rabbits out of the 

 hole, at the further end of which we found my wounded bird, an old 

 Frenchman." * 



548. Some good sportsmen maintain that a retrieving 

 setter (or pointer) on finding a dead bird ought to point 

 it until directed to lift it. This training they hold to be 

 advisable, on the ground that it conduces to the dog's 

 steadiness by diminishing his wish to run forward on 

 seeing a bird fall ; but the plan has necessarily this evil 

 consequence, that should the setter, when searching for 

 the dead bird, come across and point, as he ought, any 

 fresh game, on your telling him to fetch it (as you 

 naturally will), he must spring it if he attempt to obey 

 you. Surely this would tend more to unsteady him 

 than the habit of lifting his dead birds as soon as found ? 

 Your dog and you ought always to work in the greatest 



* A red-legged partridge. 



