this is so, because they are so much more beyond the master's control than the pointer or setter. There is no objection to beginning to beat the coverts early in the morning, which is as good a time as any for pheasant shooting; and most ardent sportsmen of the old school select that time, especially if they mean to beat the hedgerows. This they can do as the birds are returning from their feed, after which they should follow them into covert, and with a wave of the hand order in the spaniels, with "Have at"-pronounced "Haave aat"--which should only be used just at first, by way of encouragement. After this keeping them carefully near him-the shooter should watch for the one which "opens," and press forward to that dog; as soon as he gets to him, the little creature is sure to push on, and will, if of a good nose, soon either undeceive him by silence, or drive up a pheasant or cock. The great point is to rush well into the thick of the scent, getting to the dog throwing his tongue, wherever he may be, and being regardless of thorns or brambles. Nothing can be effected without this rush, as pheasants will run for many yards before dogs, if not rapidly pushed, and will generally get up far out of shot, or so protected by the trees as to be defended by them from the gun. Little light men have consequently a worse chance at this sport than strong and tall ones, who are able to raise their arms and guns above the underwood, and carry all before them. It is seldom that a pheasant can be marked into another part of the same covert, and indeed, if it is so, the bird seldom remains near where he alighted, but runs a long distance, and then lies quietly in the thickest and most impenetrable part. If wild-pheasant shooting is to be followed with much success, the spaniels must be broken from "fur" both in the form of hares and rabbits, as they will otherwise neglect the pheasants, and take to the four-footed game. This can only be done with spaniels whose breed is very pure and free from the stain of the beagle, which so many of our old spaniels are crossed with. The Clumber and also the Sussex spaniels, when pure, are said to disregard hares and rabbits, until thoroughly entered to them, and always to prefer "feather" to "fur;" and no doubt it is the case where the ancestors have been strictly kept for generations to pheasants and cocks. But when they are allowed to hunt all

kinds of game, they are not so very oblivious of their natural instincts as is commonly reported.

Such is the method of breaking the spaniel, with the exception of that part which treats of his education as a retriever; but as the mode of effecting this is the same as for a dog specially provided for that purpose, and as this latter subject will next come under consideration, it will be desirable to treat of the two together.

CHAPTER III.

RETRIEVERS AND RETRIEVING BOTH ON LAND
AND IN THE WATER.

LAND RETRIEVERS-THE DEER-HOUND -THE SMALL NEWFOUNDLAND CROSSED WITH THE SETTER-THE CROSS WITH THE POINTER AND TERRIER-THE BEAGLE AND TERRIER CROSS-WATER RETRIEVERSTHE PURE ST. JOHN'S NEWFOUNDLAND-THE POINTER AND TERRIER CROSS-THE WATER SPANIEL-ENGLISH AND IRISH-TEACHING TO RETRIEVE ON LAND-AND ON WATER.

Retrieving is the art of recovering animals after they are partially disabled by the gun or rifle. Thus the deer-hound is slipped when the stag is not brought down by the rifle, and follows him up either by scent or view. The land retriever works out the many windings of the wounded pheasant, grouse, or partridge; and the water retriever brings to his master the crippled duck, which would otherwise escape, or sometimes the dead bird which lies beyond the reach of man when he has not the aid of a boat, or of the assistant which I am now describing.

The Deer-hound is a large and very elegant specimen of the dog, his proportions being quite as good as those of the greyhound, and resembling exactly in shape the rough variety of that beautiful dog. The appearance and shape of the deerhound are better described by pictorial representationsuch as that which faces this page-than by pen-and-ink sketches. It may, however, be mentioned, that the purity of