EVEN-TOED UNGULATES (aRTIODAOTYLa) 225 



summer they are all fallow, i. e. light red with 

 whitish spots on their sides. The brightness of 

 these spots may vary but the colour never, and all 

 change their coats together in May and October. In 

 winter they are dark brown on the back, with dun 

 legs and bellies. Mr. Lascelles thinks this herd the 

 oldest in the country, dating from a period prior to 

 the Norman Conquest, and even from the time of 

 Canute. They have always been quite unrestricted, 

 and there is no record of any cross, except with the 

 few that were introduced from Sweden and Denmark 

 by James I. 



Henry I (1100-35) granted the citizens of London 

 a day's hunting in Epping Forest, and so instituted 

 the Epping Forest hunt. Henry III (1226) also 

 granted the same privilege once a year, at Easter. 

 Heni'y VIII was hunting in Epping Forest when he 

 heard the gun fired announcing the death of Anne 

 Boleyn. This forest was kept intact as a hunting 

 ground until 1851, when a portion of it (Hainault 

 Forest) was disaiforested by Act of Parliament and 

 turned into arable land. In recent years Hainault 

 has been restored to the ancient forest and re- 

 afforested. The Epping Forest fallow deer are known 

 as the "old forest breed.'' In 1887 there were 

 eighty to one hundred head, but the herd is 

 increasing. A few bucks only are shot by the 

 verderers every year. 



Mr. Millais says that fallow deer were introduced 

 into the forest of Dunkeld by the Duke of Athol 

 early in the nineteenth century. Here the animals 

 bear horns, which are short and massive. This deer 



15 



