it have run far. Send him in the direction the covey has taken--the
chances are great that the bird is travelling towards the same point. By
pursuing this plan, obviously there will be much less chance of your
losing a bird than if you allow the dogs to keep close together while
searching.--See also 98.

297. Do not think that by making your setter lift--after his first
season--instead of "pointing dead," there will be any increased risk of
his raising unsprung birds. The difference between the scent of dead or
wounded game, and that of game perfectly uninjured, is so vast, that no
steady, experienced dog will fail to point any fresh bird he may come
across whilst seeking for that which is lost.

As a proof of this I may mention that,

298. In North America I once saw, lying on the ground, three snipe, which
a pointer, that retrieved, had regularly set one after the other, having
found a couple on his way to retrieve the first, and which he afterwards
brought in succession to his master, who had all the time governed the dog
entirely by signs, never having been obliged to use his voice beyond
saying, in a low tone, "Dead," or "Find." I remember, also, hearing of a
retrieving setter that on one occasion pointed a fresh bird, still
retaining in her mouth the winged partridge which she was carrying,--and
of a pointer who did the same when he was bringing a hare; there must,
too, be few sportsmen who will not admit that they have found it more
difficult to make a dog give up the pursuit of a wounded hare than of one
perfectly uninjured. I know of a sportsman's saying he felt certain that
the hare his retriever was _coursing_ over the moors must have been
struck, although the only person who had fired stoutly maintained that the
shot was a regular miss.[48] The owner of the dog, however, averred that
this was impossible, as he never could get the discerning animal to
follow any kind of unwounded game; and, on the other hand, that no rating
would make him quit the pursuit of _injured_ running feather or fur. The
retriever's speedy return with puss, conveniently balanced between his
jaws, bore satisfactory testimony to the accuracy of both his own and his
master's judgment.

299. Some good sportsmen maintain that a retrieving setter--or pointer--on
finding a dead bird ought to point it until desired to lift it. This
training they hold to be advisable, on the ground that it conduces to the
dog's steadiness by diminishing his