THE DEEK. 85 



The Fallow-Deer is not, like our two other deer, in- 

 digenous to these islands, though the date of its introduc- 

 Fallow- tion is uncertain. From the last it is dis- 

 Deer. tinguished by its inferior size and palmated 

 horns. It is this deer that is said to supply the finest 

 venison. 



Fallow-deer are kept in a number of parks; and there 



are large herds in the New Forest, differing, according 



to Mr Lascelles, in the narrow palmation of 



p^ . the antlers and in the spring and autumn 



change of coat. 



Where they occur, as in the New Forest, together with 



the larger species, it is remarkable how hounds, laid on to 



the red-deer, are nowise diverted by the scent of the 



smaller animal.^ When alarmed, these deer bunch together, 



and when escaping, the bucks bring up the rear.^ 



The doe gives birth to one or two (very rarely, if ever, 



^ ,. three) in early summer, the middle of June 



being the usual time. When the horns first 



appear in the second year, the young male is known as a 



"pricket." 



Fallow-deer suffer intensely in cold weather, and during 

 one severe winter some hundreds were found dead in one 

 part of the New Forest. 



The fallow-deer crops the grass, and is par- 

 ticularly fond of acorns and chestnuts. 



In addition to its smaller size, it is easily distinguished 

 by the palmate antlers and longer tail. In 

 ppearance, ^^Jq^j. ^^ ^g light brown with white spots. 



There are two races of this deer, a lighter 

 and a darker. 



The Roe-Deer, smallest of our deer, though formerly 

 widely distributed in these islands, is, with 

 the exception of a number of reintroductions, 



1 De Crespigny and Hutchinson, The New Forest, p. 158. 



2 Millais, British Deer and their Horns, pp. 145, 149. 



