THE FALLOW DEER. 561 



kept in the parks of the large landowners, where it adds much to the 

 beauty of the scene. Soft slopes of undulating land, where the grass is 

 short and thick, alternating with shady dells, where the fern grows high, 

 are its favorite haunts. There is hardly a more interesting sight than a 

 herd of these graceful and active creatures, either lying calmly under the 

 shadow of a broad clump of trees, or tripping along the sward under the 

 guidance of their leaders, the old and sober proceeding at their pecu- 

 liarly elastic trot, and the young fawn exerting all kinds of fantastic gam- 

 bols by way of expressing the exuberance of youthful spirits. The color 

 of the animal is a reddish-brown, spotted with white, with two or three 

 white lines on the body, and dark rings round the muzzle and the eyes. 

 The legs are shorter and less powerful than those of the stag, and the 

 body is proportionately stouter, the neck is shorter, and the tail con- 

 siderably longer. There is often great variety of color in the Fallow 

 Deer; specimens of a pure white color are not uncommon, but black 

 ones are very rare. In its habits it resembles the stag, but as it is 

 always seen in a state of comparative domestication, it is less shy and 

 timid. It runs very fast, and is an excellent leaper. It forms larger or 

 smaller herds, in which there is always one master-deer, who often 

 couches alone in solitary state, apart from the rest of the herd, and 

 accompanied by a few chosen does whom he honors with his prefer- 

 ences. In his absence, the herd is commanded by the younger bucks, 

 but they take care to keep out of his way when he condescends to join 

 the community. 



The food of the Fallow Deer consists chiefly of grass, but it is very 

 fond of bread, and will sometimes display a very curious appreciation of 

 unexpected dainties. They have often been seen to eat ham-sandwiches 

 in spite of the mustard, and enjoy them so thoroughly that they pushed 

 and scrambled with each other for the fragments as they fell on the 

 ground. At Magdalen College, Oxford, where many deer are kept, it 

 used to be a common amusement to tie a crust to a piece ol string, and 

 let it down to the deer out of a window. The animals would nibble the 

 bread, and as it was gradually drawn aloft by the string, would raise 

 themselves on their hind-legs, in order to reach it. But when the 

 master-deer loomed in the distance, all retired, leaving him to eat the 

 bread m solitary state. It was curious to see how a single deer would 

 contrive to take into her mouth the entire side of a " half-quartern " loaf, 

 and though it projected on each side of her jaws, would manage, by dint 

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