THE MODERN COCKER. 95 



afford, and in retrieving lie is often hard mouthed. When thoroughly broken, 

 however, he is an excellent aid to the gun ; but he is so intermixed with other breeds 

 that it is impossible to select any particular specimen as the true type. With 

 regard to the Welsh and Devon cocker of former times, they are now scarcely 

 to be met with in a state of purity and of the regulation size (201b. to 251b.) ; 

 most of them have been crossed with the springer, or by improved manage- 

 ment have been raised in weight to 301b. at the least, which militates against 

 their use in some coverts ; and in a vast majority of teams the modern field spaniel 

 must be regarded as more like the springer than the cocker. The Welsh and 

 Devon cockers are both liver-coloured, not of the Sussex golden hue, but of a 

 dead true liver colour. Their ears are not too large for work, and on the show 

 bench would by many judges be considered too small ; but they are always lobular, 

 without the slighest tendency to a vine shape. Throughout the country there 

 are numberless breeds of cockers of all colours, varying from white, black, or 

 liver to red and white, lemon and white, liver and white, and black and white. 

 Ladybird is nearly all red, but she comes of strains usually all liver or all black. 



The modern field spaniel should be the best made "all-round" shooting dog 

 of the day, for he is expected to perform equally well on land and on the water, 

 in covert, hedgerow, or turnips. He is also called on to retrieve, whilst he must 

 be thoroughly steady, reliable under all circumstances, however trying to his 

 nature, and he must never tire. In order to obtain this marvellous combination 

 of powers and varied qualifications, our modern breeders have crossed the old- 

 fashioned cocker with the Sussex, and then, by careful selection as to size, points, 

 and colour, they have established a breed, of which Brush may be taken as the 

 type in its best form. 



The following is the numerical allotment of the 



POINTS OF THE FIELD SPANIEL. 



Value. 



Head 15 



Ears 5 



Neck 5 



Chest, back, and loins ... 20 



45 



Value. 



Length 5 



Legs 10 



Feet . . 10 



25 

 Grand Total 100. 



Value. 



Colour 5 



Coat 10 



Tail 10 



Symmetry 5 



30 



1. The head (value 15) should be long, with a marked brow but still only 

 gradually rising from the nose, and the occipital protuberance well defined. Nose 

 long and broad, without any tendency to the snipe form. Eye expressive, soft, 

 and gentle, but not too full or watery. 



2. The ears (value 5) should be set on low down, lobular in shape, not over- 

 long in the leather, or too heavily clothed with feather, which should always be 

 wavy and free from ringlets. 



3. The neck (value 5) should be long enough to allow the nose to reach the 

 ground easily, strong and arched, coming easily out of well-shaped shoulders. 



