spaniels, but not so long as in Irish. Medium

size.

"Nose.-Large and soft.

"Shoulders and Chest.-Shoulders long and sloping; chest deep and fairly broad.

"Back and Loin.-Back flat and strong; loin rather long, flat, and strong.

"Hind Quarters.-Long; hocks well let down; stifles moderately bent, and not twisted inwards nor outwards.

"Stern.-Docked; low carried, i.e., not above the level of the back.

"Feet and legs.-Strong boned legs, inclining to shortness; feet large and rather flat.

"Coat.-Hard, not woolly; not curly, but may be

broken.

"Colour.-Liver and white and black and white.

"General Appearance.—An active, useful, mediumsized dog."

CHAPTER XXVI.

SPANIELS OTHER THAN BLACK.

AS CLASSES are provided for "Field Spaniels other than black (not being Clumbers, Sussex, or cockers), and as such are entered in the Stud Books, allusion must be made to them here. Their varied colouring gives them a hardier appearance than is observable in the blacks; their coats are often crisper and denser, or maybe they appear to be so in the absence of the raven gloss. It must not be forgotten that they spring from the same strain as the black variety.

The most common colours are black and tan; black and white ticked; brown, grey, and white approaching a roan; liver and white; black, tan, and white, and any variations that may appear therein. Orange and white are seldom seen, and when this colour does crop up, it is a sign of a not very remote cross with the setter or the Clumber spaniel.

In respect to general shape and character they

are in common with the black, though, excepting in the case of the black and tan, the haw, to which exception is taken, is seldom seen. The handsomest colours are the roans, black, tan and white, and the black and white ticked, and the latter is exactly the same colour as the early spaniels drawn for Aldrovandus, who wrote of them as "pantherius " three hundred and fifty years ago. So, however shape and type may have altered, the colour does not appear to have changed to any very great extent.

The liver and white variety has somehow or other become identified with the county of Norfolk, and is usually known as the Norfolk spaniel, and dealt with on preceding pages.

He is, however, common to all parts of the country where such dogs are used for work, and will retrieve, hunt the day out and through, and is not excelled by any of his race as thoroughly a sportsman's dog. Some of the very best rabbiting spaniels I have ever seen were liver and white, and the only fault that could be found with them was more than a tendency to be hard in the mouth. Not an uncommon fault where a dog is employed almost entirely among rabbits, retrieving twenty or thirty couple couple a day, some of them struggling hard in the mouth and scratching him with their feet.

The best kind of liver and white spaniel for work is usually rather high on the legs, about 40lb. in weight, perhaps inclined to be curly in coat; at any rate, not nearly so straight-jacketed as the show specimens. There is no fear of his dying out, for almost every country village can boast these brown and white dogs; the gamekeeper treasures them, and, if they do not receive their due in the show ring, they are sufficiently honoured elsewhere - their character in the field being of the highest.

I noticed a short time ago a very handsome strain of this race kept by Sir Thomas Boughey, at Aquilate, near Wellington, Salop. The coats of these had no tendency to curl; their character at work was excellent, and the specimens I saw appeared to be remarkably good tempered, well broken, not inclined to run riot, and only hunting when ordered to do so. On inquiry I learned that this particular breed had been in the family for many years, and was likely to remain so in the future.

About twenty-four years ago Mr. Burgess, of Brighouse, Yorkshire, showed a couple of liver and white spaniels with great success, Sam and Flora by name. Bred by Mr. Hopcroft, of Nottingham, at that time they were said to be Sussex spaniels, but, although their breeder tried to maintain their

reputation as such, it was pretty certain that they had no claim to be of that race. Mr. Hopcroft had the strain for some time, and valued it exceedingly. Sam and Flora were brother and sister, of nice character, but, though they won all before them in their time, they were much higher on the leg than bench winners of to-day; they, however, excelled in length of ears.

There are extant some capital chromo-lithographs of these two celebrated dogs, and the blood of both of them is still to be found in many of the best specimens at the present time.

Mr. H. P. Green, at Caistor Hall, near Norwich, has a strain of black, tan, and white spaniels, which he values highly. Personally, I never saw any dogs that took my fancy more than they did when I first saw them on the show bench. A little over 40lb. weight or so, they abound in character, are long in ears, fairly straight in coat, and strong in bone; still, handsome though they be, they are more valued for work than beauty, though they have earned distinction on the show bench. Their owner tells me he has had the strain for over a dozen years, commencing with a bitch obtained from the late Sir Richard Wallace, which was mated with a tricoloured dog. Both were excellent in the field, and appeared to have transferred their good qualities