THE DEER 



135 



veins are greatly enlarged, and budding new horns soon 

 appear. They are soft, very sensitive and delicate, and 

 are covered with seeming velvet. They grow so rapidly 

 that in a little over two months the antlers are perfectly 

 formed, and a burr or rim forms at the ball, cutting off the 





Fig. 112. — The Wapiti, 



blood vessels, which in a short time disappear, leaving 

 nothing but grooves to tell the story. The delicate velvet 

 also dries and is worn off, and the stags now appear 

 anxious to test their newborn antlers. 



A group consisting of the male, female, and young 

 wapiti (Fig. 112) is a picture long to be remembered. 



