THE SPRINGER. 
709 
greyhound alone pursues his game in silence, which could 
not be otherwise, as every nerve is strained, to outstrip his 
prey. And here we find in the springer and cocker, which 
are required for driving game, that shelter in thick coverts 
and brushwood, from their retreats, where a sportsman cannot 
penetrate, barking, whenever they find either of those for 
which they are trained, and thus affording a premonitory 
warning, to look out. 
From the time the springer is thrown off in the field, he 
gives evident proofs of the pleasure he experiences in being 
thus employed, by the perpetual motion of his tail, which is 
termed feathering, amongst sportsmen ; and upon the increas¬ 
ing vibration of which, the experienced fowler well knows 
he is getting nearer to the object of his attraction. The 
more closely he approaches the game, the more energetic the 
dog becomes in his endeavour to succeed; tremulous whis¬ 
pers escape him as a symptom of doubt; but the moment 
this doubt is dispelled, and the game is found, his clamorous 
raptures break forth in full force. He expresses his gratifi¬ 
cation by loud and quick barking, which may be relied on 
as a proof that he has not sought in vain, leaving the happy 
owner exultingly to boast, that “ he is in possession of at 
least one faithful domestic who never tells a lie." 
The following anecdote, related by Mr. Blain, is one proof 
among many, showing that dogs are endowed with some won¬ 
derful instinctive knowledge, by which they can traverse 
with unerring certainty a country with which they are unac¬ 
quainted, in pursuit of their master or former home. He 
says,—“ I took a spaniel, bred in London, forty-eight miles 
in the close rumble-tumble of a chaise into Essex, where she 
remained with me some months. During the journey she 
was only once taken out of this close confinement for a few 
minutes in an inn yard She proved useless as a sporting 
