104 The Carnivora. 
ducks, by a flanking fire as they turned to enter the creek. 
With the old muzzle-loaders we could, of course, never 
get a chance of more than four barrels at them, but 
generally the dog had the pleasure of retrieving three or 
four, sometimes six birds. From our place of concealment 
they could not be seen when rounding the point, and flying 
low with the land as a background, except by the help of 
a binocular, with which each of us in turn kept on the 
look out. The silent movement on the part of the watch-: 
man of putting down the glass and lifting his gun was 
the signal to prepare for action, and in a few seconds the 
birds were streaming past in their arrow-like flight, and 
presently the dog was busy at his retrieving work. In 
the meantime, it must have occurred to his mind that there 
was some object in the steady gaze I directed towards that 
point when it was my turn to use the glass, for, after 
the first hour or so, he turned his attention with obvious 
expectation towards the point of land, peeping through 
the bushes, and even creeping out of cover to watch. ; 
‘I soon became convinced that he saw the birds rounding the 
point as soon as I did, and he watched for them as eagerly 
as ourselves. A little shiver of excitement, and the cocking 
of his ears, even occasionally before I was myself quite 
certain of their approach, was an indication not to be neg- 
lected. Accordingly, I left him to watch alone, and only 
when he exhibited these signs of interest put the glass 
to my eye for a moment and proved him to be right. It 
was scarcely credible that he should be able to detect them 
at that distance: but on the second and succeeding days 
we discontinued the tedious use of the glass, and trusted 
solely to his sight. At the first sign of excitement, we 
ordered him to lie down, and took up our guns in complete 
confidence, always justified that the signal he gave was 
correct, and thenceforth trusted entirely to him. As an 
example of intelligence it is interesting, but I think it proves 
the sight of a dog to be quite equal, and even superior, 
