490 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 



the Irish -setter color, to conform to the standard, 

 should be a deep red, or, as the Irish Setter Club of 

 England has it, "a rich golden chestnut," in ancient 

 times the color was red and white, and the red then 

 was not so deep and rich in color. The insistence on 

 color is a bench show qualification. However, a trifle 

 of white on toes, forehead, chest or face is not a dis- 

 qualification. In English field trials and field work 

 the Irish setter has succeeded far better than he has 

 in the same line of effort in this country, though this 

 applies to his status of some years ago. The Irish set- 

 ter is but little used by American sportsmen, and in 

 field-trial competition is rarely seen. 



The latter-day Irish setter seems to be lacking in 

 speed, range, endurance and general capabilities, as 

 compared with his more popular congeners, the pointer 

 and English setter. Physically, like the English set- 

 ter, which, in the main, he resembles closely, he is the 

 embodiment of grace and beauty. 



Many things point to the conclusion that the black 

 and tan, or Gordon setter, is of comparatively recent 

 origin. Ancient writers are silent concerning him, 

 which would indicate that he was unknown to them. 

 No one knows where the Duke of Gordon obtained his 

 dogs. It is supposed that this breed is a composite 

 of setter, collie and bloodhound, the latter showing 

 strongly in the generous dewlap, the coarser skeleton, 

 the larger, heavier head, the haw, and the tendency, 

 when at work, to use on the trail the methods of a 

 hound rather than those of the setter. The collie cross 



