SHOOTING THE WOODS GROUSE 379 



The work required of the dog in this shooting is dis- 

 tinctly different from that required in any other kind 

 of bird shooting, except, perhaps, woodcock shooting, 

 which in a way it resembles, though a higher degree 

 of dog intelligence and obedience are required, as the 

 ruffed grouse is far more cunning and wary than the 

 woodcock. 



The "partridge dog' 1 should not work far from the 

 gun in cover, and he should be silent and diligent in 

 his quest. Many experienced shooters highly com- 

 mend the use of a small bell tied to the dog's collar, its 

 low tinkling constantly indicating the dog's where- 

 abouts in the thick cover ; and generally, when the bell 

 stops, it indicates that the dog is on point, thus in 

 a way keeping the shooter posted by ear as to his dog's 

 doings and whereabouts. 



The rattle-headed, highly nervous dog, or the one 

 which gallops swiftly and merrily about, is distinctly 

 out of place in this kind of shooting. The aesthetic 

 shooter, whose dog must carry a high head and a tail 

 lashing his sides merrily as he gallops and bounds 

 about in the ecstasy of his enjoyment, as the dogs many 

 times do in the idealists' tales of great work afield, 

 would better take his fiery dog into the open, where 

 he can better disport himself unhampered, and where 

 his pretty ways may be admired without any unpleas- 

 ant interposition of the ruffed grouse. Such manner 

 of the dog's seeking is incompatible with ruffed grouse 

 shooting, for the shooting should be the dominant fea- 

 ture, not the joyousness of the dog. 



