168 LEWIS'S AMERICAN SPORTSMAN. 



suffering many a poor bird that would otherwise linger and die 

 from its fatal wounds. Upon the score, then, of humanity alone, 

 we should teach our dogs this important service, and never permit 

 them to abandon a disabled bird till after the most diligent search. 

 We have already spoken on this subject under the head of "killing 

 clean," and cannot too strongly impress these remarks upon the 

 minds of our readers. 



.Never lose a bird, if possible, which you have once marked down, 

 but hunt the dogs closely about the spot, kicking the stubble or 

 brushwood, if there be any. Do not be in too great a hurry to get 

 over the ground, and by a little patience you will often get many 

 shots which your companion in his anxiety has left behind him. It 

 is by such manoeuvres that good sportsmen always obtain game, no 

 matter how scarce it may be. 



We doubt not that many of our readers will have observed the 

 habit which partridges have of lying very close till the sportsman 

 has passed by, and then suddenly flirting up, and making off behind 

 him, before he has time to turn around ; therefore, we repeat again, 

 do not be in too much of a hurry. Recollect also that the par- 

 tridge of America has been pronounced the most difficult of all 

 game-birds to find, or to kill when found, and that frequently they 

 give forth no scent whatever for several minutes after they alight, 

 and consequently will defy the cleverest dogs to point them. Do 

 not, therefore, be discouraged either at your want of success in 

 getting birds up, or your want of skill in bringing them down, on 

 all occasions ; but take things coolly, and hunt your dogs patiently, 

 more particularly when the birds have flown to close cover. 



It is not always prudent to follow birds immediately into a thick 

 covert overgrown with rank underbrush, as they will give forth a 

 better odor in ten, fifteen, or twenty minutes after settling than 

 they would at first. Some birds, however, run the very moment 

 they have struck cover, and thus may be lost altogether, as they 

 move along pretty briskly when frightened, and after a lapse of 

 fifteen minutes may be a mile off from where they alighted. 



Your dogs will naturally, or rather soon learn to hunt along 



