380 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



A dog of fair gait and persistent industry can easily 

 beat out the necessary range, and the one which makes 

 his quest patiently and soberly and quietly, working 

 with judgment and honesty to the gun, will bring the 

 shooter satisfactory success in the results, to say noth- 

 ing of the incomparable comfort and pleasure in shoot- 

 ing over him. 



Nine out of every ten dogs which are running with 

 high head and merry actions are running because they 

 are in high spirits and for their own pleasure, with no 

 thought of the birds or of work to the gun. When 

 they come on birds this is often a matter of chance, 

 and their point work is marked by deplorable errors. 

 This kind of dog leads his partial master to believe 

 that when he wears off the wildness and wire edge 

 he will steady down to a useful grade of work; but 

 often when such dog has worn off his exuberance he 

 has worn off all there is in him of field performance, 

 and he either loafs, or does his work in the same slov- 

 enly manner, though, loafing, he does less of it. 



In shooting for sport, the shooter takes his birds 

 on the wing. Of course, in shooting for market, the 

 market shooter has no thought of sport or its prac- 

 tices. His one object is to kill the bird and bring it 

 to bag. The manner of it is of the least importance. 

 His theory and practice are founded on commercial 

 principles; therefore, he shoots his birds as he can, 

 whether they be on the limb of a tree, the ground, or 

 flying. 



Some hunters have dogs trained to seek for the 



