20 FEBRUARY 1904, Page 15

[To THE EDITOR OP THY " SPECTATOR. "] SIE,—Under the above

heading Mr. Hamilton remarks in the Spectator of February 13th that nine retrievers out of ten will not touch a woodcock. Therein I must differ from him. During the past thirty years I have owned various retrievers and some dozens of retrieving spaniels, and I do not call to mind one single dog that failed to retrieve woodcock as freely as any other species of bird. I have frequently seen a young dog on coming across a dead woodcock for the first time manifest a disinclination to carry it, but this remark applies equally to snipe, and, in a lesser degree, to wood-pigeons, and a little practice soon removes the disinclination referred to.—