228 COMMON BKITISH ANIMAL8 



in tlie British Isles. Cervus megaceroa, the giant fallow 

 deer or Irish elk, which must have been the finest animal 

 of the Pleistocene age, is found abundantly in the 

 Irish bogs of Tullamore and Lough Gur in Limerick. 

 This grand animal stood 7 feet high at the withers. 

 A few good specimens have been found in the south 

 of Scotland, and remains of this deer have also 

 been found in the Thames valley, but they are not 

 well preserved. 



The second species of Pleistocene fallow deer is 

 CervHf^ Jjelgrandi, the remains of which are found in 

 the Norfolk forest beds. 



The Uoe Beer (Certus Capreolus, Liim.). 



This little deer is the smallest of the three kinds 

 of deer common in English parks. The male is 

 called the roe buck, the female the roe doe. It is 

 only 4 feet long from the nose to the tip of the tail 

 and stands but a little over 2 feet at the withers. 



In summer the coat, which is rather thin and 

 coarse, is bright red above and paler on the under 

 parts. In winter it is greyish-brown and the hair is 

 long and soft. There is a pure white patch on the 

 rump and sometimes a white patch on the neck. 

 The ears are lined with long hairs and bordered 

 with black. The tail is very short. 



The fawns are dark brown above, and have lines 

 of cream-coloured spots on the rumps. There is a 

 marked difference between the horns of this species 

 and those either of the stag or fallow buck. The 

 first antlers of the roe buck, which are fully formed 

 at fifteen months, are simple spikes. The second 



