166 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



on the wing. The act of pointing game, it must be recollected, is 

 not a truly automatic instinct of the animal, as many suppose, but 

 the beautiful result of discipline and long training in one special 

 branch. The habit, however, has now become so confirmed, 

 through this persevering education on the part of sportsmen, that 

 each generation of pointers, more particularly those of pure breeds, 

 seem to possess an involuntary desire to practise those actions that 

 have been inculcated by the lash in their forefathers. 



Many breeds of pointers have this faculty of standing game so 

 early and powerfully developed that it is analogous to second 

 nature; for we often see whole litters of pups stop so instinctively 

 at the first scent of game, that they point the moment they come 

 upon partridges, without the least tutoring, and without knowing 

 the why or the wherefore. 



There may be, however, more instinct in this practice of point- 

 ing than we are at first willing to suppose, as we know that most 

 predatory animals either lie in wait for prey or creep crouchingly 

 towards it for the purpose of surprise. In the pointer, therefore, 

 the habit may be somewhat instinctive in itself; but, as now per- 

 fected and propagated in the whole breed, is the result, as before 

 stated, of nice education. It is better in throwing the dogs off to 

 give them the wind, which they afterwards will be very apt to 

 keep, if taught to quarter their ground properly. Dogs should be 

 spoken to as little as possible in the field, and as much should be 

 accomplished by signal as can be ; the eye and the hand should do 

 far more than the voice. If well broken, they may be allowed to 

 range pretty widely, so that they remain in sight. Young dogs 

 must always be within hearing ; otherwise they commit some gross 

 errors without being reprimanded at the proper moment. When 

 the dogs come to a stand, approach as noiselessly as possible, and, 

 if the grass be deep, lift the feet high and tread as lightly as you 

 are able; and, if the birds are wild and lie badly, incline the body 

 forward, so as to keep it somewhat out of view. Flash the bird 

 yourself, by advancing, if necessary, even before the dogs, as it is 

 a bad practice to encourage the dogs to do it by hieing them on. 



