316 AMERICAN GAME BIRD SHOOTING 
should work diligently, but not hurriedly, and it is 
hardly necessary to add that the work should be done 
as silently as possible, though this also is true of all 
other kinds of shooting. 
The dog should be a good retriever, otherwise a 
large percentage of the birds will be lost, for many 
times it is as difficult to find the bird after it is killed 
as it is before. Dogs which run riot in this shooting 
can soon tire themselves out, particularly in summer 
shooting, when dogs are out of condition, and the 
weather warm, but the consequent fatigue from such 
overexertion and unfit condition cannot be justly at- 
tributed to the difficulty of the sport. It is rather hard 
work for the shooter, particularly him of the North, 
where the quest must be made afoot, and where the 
footing is difficult and insecure, though after all it is 
but little more difficult than any other shooting in. 
which the shooter walks. 
As the dog often comes to a point in thick cover 
out of sight of the shooter, even though the point may 
be but a few steps away from him, a bell attached to 
the dog’s collar has been found of great assistance in 
determining his whereabouts, and its silence indicates 
when he stops on point, a matter very essential in con- 
ducting the sport. Not every dog is a good wood- 
cock dog, even though he may be excellent on quail, 
snipe, chickens, etc. Some dogs appear to dislike the 
work intensely, others refusing to recognize the bird 
at all. A few take to it very kindly, and work to the 
gun from observation to a useful degree far above 
