LIFE AND HABITS 23 



a log before it is a week old with as much ease and grace 

 as the older ones. 



The stag, even more than the doe, shows great change 

 with the coming of autumn. His horns are fully grown and 

 hardened by about the ist of September ; he then begins 

 the somewhat tedious task of scraping off the now useless 

 velvet against the rough bark of the spruce, the fir, the 

 " juniper " (tamarack) and the alder. He rubs his horns 

 till the greater part of the velvet is removed, while the more 

 inaccessible places are cleansed with his hind hoofs, which 

 are sharp and very sensitive. With them he gently removes 

 each particle of the dried coating so that none remains to 

 mar the beauty of the horns. He seems to be proud of his 

 new possessions and struts about with a thoroughly satisfied 

 air and is even accused of gazing at himself in the mirror- 

 like pools as though pleased with the reflection of his 

 adornments. When the velvet is removed the horns are rather 

 dull in colour, but they soon assume a wonderful orange 

 tone which adds greatly to their beauty. How this colour 

 is obtained we do not know for certain. The native says 

 that it is from the sap in the bark of the alder which oxidizes 

 and turns to a deep orange when exposed to the light. 

 This is a fanciful idea which does not appear to be based on 

 fact. The colour is more likely to be derived from the 

 horns themselves, the blood and the tissue with which they 

 are covered having some efi^ect on it. I suggest this because 

 the colour varies with the individual animals, those in the 

 prime of life usually showing the most brilliant deep orange, 

 while the very old stags, who have long passed their prime, 

 have as a rule very light-coloured horns. If the colour were 

 produced by rubbing against any sort of tree or bush this 

 would not happen. The horns of the does, which are very 

 much smaller and less vigorous, are also light in colour. The 



