PROPENSITIES OF ANIMALS. 
367 
as if it had inferred that the track by which the servant had come from me would 
lead it to me. It left my servant within twenty yards of my house, and was with me 
in a very few minutes, though the distance which it had to run exceeded a mile. I 
repeated this experiment at different times, and after considerable intervals, and uni- 
formly with the same results, the dog always coming to me without the servant. I 
could mention several other instances, nearly as singular, of the sagacity of this 
animal, which I imagined to have derived its extraordinary powers in some degree 
from the highly cultivated intellect of its male parent. 
I have witnessed, within the period above mentioned, of nearly sixty years, a very 
great change in the habits of the Woodcock. In the first part of that time, when it 
had recently arrived in the autumn, it was very tame ; it usually chuckled when dis- 
turbed, and took only a very short flight. It is now, and has been during many years, 
comparatively a very wild bird, which generally rises in silence, and takes a compa- 
ratively long flight, excited, I conceive, by increased hereditary fear of man. 
I procured a puppy of a breed of Setters, which had, through many generations, 
been employed in setting Partridges for the flight net only, and of whose exploits I 
had heard many very extraordinary accounts. I employed it as a pointer in shooting 
Partridges ; and for finding coveys of those birds in the open field, I never saw its 
equal, or in its manner of setting them ; but it would never set its game amongst 
brakes or hedge-rows. Whenever it found a bird in such a situation, it invariably 
sat down, in the same attitude, and alternately looked into the bush and at me, seem- 
ing to think that setting Partridges in such situations was not a part of its duty. 
It is well known that very young Pointers, of slow and indolent breeds, will point 
Partridges without any previous instruction or practice. I took one of those to a 
spot where I had just seen a covey of small Partridges alight in August, and amongst 
them I threw a piece of bread to induce the dog to move from my heels, which it 
had very little disposition to do at any time, except in search of something to eat. 
On getting amongst the partridges and perceiving the scent of them, its eyes became 
suddenly fixed, and its muscles rigid, and it stood trembling with anxiety during 
some minutes. I then caused the birds to take wing, at sight of which, it exhibited 
strong symptoms of fear, and none of pleasure. A young springing Spaniel, under 
the same circumstances, would have displayed much joy and exultation, and I do not 
doubt but that the young Pointer would have done so too, if none of its ancestry had 
ever been beaten for springing Partridges improperly. 
The most extraordinary instance of the power of instinctive hereditary propensity, 
which I have ever witnessed, came under my observation in the case of a young dog 
of a variety usually called Retrievers. The proper office of these dogs is that of 
finding and recovering wounded game, but they are often employed for more ex- 
tensive purposes, and are found to possess very great sagacity. I obtained a very 
young puppy* of this family, which was said to be exceedingly well bred, and had 
* It was only one month old when it came into the author’s possession. 
