Small-sized Spaniels, weighing from 2olb., or even less, to 251b., and of all colours, are still pretty numerous throughout the country, and many of them are as good as they are handsome. These, the Cockers of the different families, are among the most intelligent, vivacious, and beautiful of the canine races. They can creep and crawl, push and scramble, almost anywhere; and, when they are allowed to retrieve, it is wonderful what heavy burdens they manage to carry, an attribute of their perfect shape, whip-cord muscles, and big hearts. The writer has seen one carrying a hare that was half his own weight. They are never more in their element than when rattling the rabbits out of thick gorse-covers, or flushing woodcocks from a tangled hill-side. From this bird, indeed, is their title of Cocker derived ; so indispensable, in shooting the long-bills, were their services considered by our ancestors.

And nowadays, on a crisp morning of late autumn, there is no better sport than to repair with a team of good Cockers to some suitable spot that abounds with high banks and almost impenetrable thickets, listening for their shrill voices when game is stirred, and taking snap-shots when you find a chance.

These little Spaniels are quite indefatigable in their exertions, and if ever one be found to slacken at all in his efforts or to appear tired, there is good reason to "suspect his get."

High spirits are innate in all true Cockers, but these are not accompanied by a headstrong temper, and no dog is more easily disciplined by judicious treatment. At the first trials ever held, a very typical liver-and-while Cocker bitch easily won the first prize. After that event her breaker sold her for a large price, and she disappeared from public life. The other day the writer saw her again quite by chance, and he was interested to learn that her new owner is as enthusiastic about her virtues to-day as we all were nearly five years ago.

There are several varieties of the Cocker, each belonging to a different district of Great Britain. For instance, in Devonshire the Cocker is often a 30 lb. dog, and is rather sturdier in build, as well as bigger, than his cousin of the Midlands, which greatly resembles an English Springer in miniature, though not quite so heavy in lip and ear, and a trifle shorter in the back. The writer can just remember a family of liver-roans in Derbyshire, very small but built on the lines of an English Setter (the Setting-Spaniel). They were certainly lovely, and at home rather languishing in their manner. But show them a gun, and they were ablaze in a moment, and at work no cover was rough enough to daunt them.

The Welsh Cocker is, similarly, a modified miniature of the Welsh Springer. Judges at shows, therefore, ought to judge the little red-and-whites by a standard differing slightly from that of their English rivals.

In America (Massachusetts) they must also have some purely bred Cockers, full of quality, judging from a photograph of a group of eleven that the writer saw recently, and he was very much interested to read in the description of these that the Americans have detected, and dread as much as we do, the Beagle cross in the Cocker.

Nothing can be more fatal than this taint both to true Spaniel work and to true Spaniel beauty: it should be eradicated at any cost. In the appearance, as a rule, it may be recognised by the thin feather of the fore leg not being continued to the heel, by smoothness below the hock, by the round cat-foot, by the gaily carried tail, and by a "beagley" shape of head and eye. At work, of course, it can be readily detected, but then it is sometimes an inconveniently late discovery!

Here is the description of the Cocker Spaniel, published by the Sporting Spaniel Society: -

Skull

Fairly long, having full temples and the forehead raised.

Jaws

Of medium length and rather pointed, without too much lip ; the nostrils well developed.

Eyes

Rather dark and mild, must not be sunken nor show haw.

Ears

Medium sized, broad rather than long, set on low, and thickly but not cumbrously coated with hair.

Neck

Long, clean, arched, and muscular.

Shoulders

Long, fine, and sloping.

Fore Legs

Straight, substantial, oval in bone, and about as long as an old-fashioned Fox-terrier. The bone not at all clumsy, the pasterns rather long and springy, not too much feather.

Body

Well developed, but not too wide in rib, well let down in chest.

Loin

Muscular and slightly arched.

Hindquarters

Very strong, with well-bent stifles (neither turned in nor out), the hocks near the ground.

Feet

Thickly padded, with arched toes of a fair length.

Stern

Set on with an inclination downwards, and perpetually vibrating with a restless, quivering movement peculiar to this breed.

Coat

Smooth or slightly wavy, very dense but not very long.

Colour

Black, black-and-tan, liver, lemon, or red, conjointly with white or as self colours. A mixture of white, however, is desirable, as being more easily seen by the shooters in cover. The correct shade for the eyes varies according to the colour of the coat.