76 RED DEER. 



IV. 



ANTLER AND FERN. 



THE green stem of the brake fern as it rises 

 unrolls at the top, and when these coils 

 appear in the spring the stag's new horns 

 begin to grow. Fern and antler start to- 

 gether; the fern is easily found, for it is 

 soon taller than the thin grass, but the 

 stag conceals himself in the cover, and it 

 is not easy to know to what stage he has 

 arrived. But his new antlers grow with 

 the fern, and as that reaches a good height 

 so his horns begin to overtop his ears. 

 Brake is later on the moors than in the 

 warm southern counties ; for although Ex- 

 moor is in the same latitude, it is so exposed 

 that grass and flower are behind the time 



