io6 The Sporting Dog 



Gordon has yet had the rapidity of action which 

 the prevailing American taste demands, and 

 nearly all of them potter a great deal on foot 

 scent. 



In color the Gordon is black-and-tan, the tan 

 appearing on the jaws, breast, and the inside of 

 the legs. The tan should be a rich red and 

 sharply outlined from the black. Theoretically a 

 slight dash of white on the breast is permissible, 

 but judges of this breed are so exacting as to 

 color that for practical show purposes a white spot 

 is a disqualification in good competition. The 

 usual English setter description of shape fits the 

 Gordon except that the latter is considerably 

 heavier in general make-up, and especially in 

 skull and muzzle. This natural heaviness is 

 aggravated by a tendency to take on flesh which 

 quickly reduces a speed not first rate at best. In 

 looks this breed is one of the handsomest, and 

 some fanciers are still loyal to its good qualities. 



Though the breed takes its name from the 

 Duke of Gordon, at whose kennel the strain of 

 black-and-tans was fixed a hundred years ago, the 

 modern Gordon is really a specialized and devel- 

 oped form of the black-and-tan color in the Eng- 

 lish setter. Some of the English authorities 

 believe that the bloodhound was crossed on the 

 setter to produce what is known as the Gordon. 

 There is no evidence to that effect, but they make 



