CHAPTER XII I. 



RAXfiiNG. — Quartering ; field ti-ial methocls ; coveys and single 

 birds ; grouse and woodcock dogs ; turning out 



ON the English field, either for ordinary 

 shooting or field trial work, a great deal 

 is expected of a well-broken dog in the 

 way of quartering, but in this country little 

 attention is paid to this accomplishment. In 

 England the fields are generally small and regu- 

 lar and the dog — that is, the ideal dog — is 

 required to hunt one field out thoroughly and 

 systematically before entering another. "Break- 

 ing fence" is counted a rather serious fault, and 

 dogs are taught to wait for the order to leave 

 one field for another. In this country the land 

 is more broken, the fields large and irregular 

 and dogs are developed so that they will rely 

 more on their own judgment in ranging. Here 

 a well-broken dog, with good bird sense, will 

 waste no time quartering out barren spots for 

 the sake of precision, but will search out a 

 likely place and then move on to what in his 

 judgment is the next nearest spot likely to hold 

 birds. He takes no direction from his handler, 

 for he needs none. At times, again, the dog 



